


A Holly Jolly Christmas

by DKGwrites, Morgana24



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, Clois, F/F, F/M, Fun, Humor, Postpartum Depression, Snow, SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 67,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21649348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DKGwrites/pseuds/DKGwrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana24/pseuds/Morgana24
Summary: Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor have been invited to the Kent Farm to spend Christmas with Kara's cousin Clark Kent and his fiance Lois Lane.2 Supers, 1 Luthor and 1 Lane all under one roof? What's the worst that could happen?
Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 173
Kudos: 535





	1. Wine-ter Wonderland

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Smallville?” Lois Lane huffed for what seemed to Clark to be the millionth time that very morning, alone. 

“Lois,” he took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him, ignoring the fact that she’d been scrubbing frantically at a dinner plate in the sink with a scrubbing brush so forcefully in fact that the brush had started to crack and the bristles fall into the water. Ignoring the soap suds currently dripping onto his socks as he held his fiancé at arm’s length, he smiled. “I think that dish is clean enough.”

“Have you been listening to a word I’ve been saying, Clark?!” Lois snapped, forcefully turning herself back to the sink to carry on attacking the sparkling dinnerware with the brush again, clearly using it as a source to vent her frustration on.

“Unfortunately, it’s been impossible not to,” Clark muttered with a sigh of his own as he ventured over to the fridge, opened it and peered inside, wishing - and not for the first time - that he could feel the effects of the incredibly inviting beers that were neatly arranged within. Along with half a supermarket’s worth of groceries. 

“What was that?!” Lois shot him the dirtiest look he had ever seen from the reporter and he held his hands up quickly in a gesture of self defence. 

“I said ‘Yes Dear’.” 

Lois scowled at him for a few moments longer, then wagged the soapy, half destroyed brush in his direction. “Hands off the food!”

“Absolutely not touching the food,” Clark replied, showing her his empty hands, front and back. As soon as she turned back to the sink, he flashed out an arm, using his super speed to snag a handful of cooked chicken bits and a couple of cocktail sausages.

“Clark Joseph Kent, I saw that!” Lois called over her shoulder as he went off into the living room to find some festive music to play.

As  _ Jingle Bell Rock _ started to play through the surround sound system, Clark wandered back into the kitchen, having also demolished any trace of food evidence before daring to show himself in Lois’ presence again. 

“Lois,” he sighed, seeing that she’d finished brutalizing the dinner plate and had now moved on to a set of mixing bowls. “Honey, could you please relax? It’s just Kara. You know Kara. You love Kara.”

“Kara’s not the problem,” Lois growled. “Though I do worry that we may not have enough food. I should go out and get some more.”

“There’s enough food,” Clark reassured her gently, placing his strong hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him once more. She tried to resist, but was no match for his strength, so quickly gave in. 

“Hey,” he offered her a bright smile, and he could see that she was desperately fighting a smile of her own.

“Hi,” she grumbled at last, looking away though her resolve was fading rapidly. 

“Lo, talk to me,” he spoke to her gently now, releasing his grip on her shoulders but not letting go completely. “What’s wrong? What’s got you so worked up?”

Lois took a deep breath, then sighed. “It’s the company Kara chooses to keep these days. It’s bad enough that we have to hear about  _ her _ all the time, but at least in National City she was keeping her distance. Now you’ve gone and invited the enemy to our home. And not just our Metropolis apartment either. You’ve invited her to the Kent Farm!”

Clark knew Lois was quite possessive over the old farmstead, but he’d never truly understood why. And as if reading his mind, Lois decided to elaborate.

“You have your Fortress of Solitude, Smallville. I have mine.”

“Which happens to be this place?” He let go of her shoulder with one hand and gestured to the farmhouse they were stood in.

“Correct,” Lois nodded as she turned away and headed back to the stove. “This is my sanctuary. My little bubble away from the real world where I get to feel safe and secure. And you’ve gone and brought the wolves to our door!”

“I think you’re overreacting a little, Lois.”

“Am I?” Lois snapped, spinning on him and turning her glare up several notches and almost making him flinch. Almost. “She’s a Luthor. After what happened with Lex, I can’t believe you’re going to be so blasé about inviting one to dinner. It’s not just Lex either, there’s Lionel and Lillian. They’re a veritable pit of vipers in Gucci.”

As Lois reached for the handle of the stove, Clark caught her hand and gently tugged her back to face him. “She’s also not like the other Luthors. I think we should give her a chance, Lois. Kara clearly trusts her, so isn’t that enough incentive for us to trust her too?”

Lois paused, her spine stiff before deflating. “I’d like to, Clark, but you know Kara. She’s the most bloody hopeful and optimistic person on this planet, and I’m not exaggerating. I’m not just worried about Lena, I’m worried for Kara. I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

“Who says she will?”

“History.” When Clark winced Lois added, “Everything the Luthors touch dies a slow and lingering death. I love Kara, and I want better than that for her. If this was about anyone else on the planet, I’d say Kara could take care of herself, but with Lena Luthor,” Lois inhaled deeply, squaring her shoulders and looking Clark head on, “if she means Kara ill, and until I have indisputable evidence I’ve got to believe she does, Kara is in danger. Why am I the only one who sees this?”

With a twinkle in his eye and a lopsided grin, Clark replied, “Maybe because you haven’t met Lena?”

“Lex was charming too. They’re all charming. It’s part of what makes them so dangerous.” Lois turned in a circle, a frown etched into her face. 

“What’s wrong now?”

“I can’t remember what I was going to do before someone rudely interrupted me.”

“Feed me?”

“Ha! In your dreams, Spaceman Spiff. The linens, I need to iron the linens. We need the tablecloth and napkins pressed before our guests get here. Go get me the ironing board from the basement.”

“But… I thought Lena was some great evil out to destroy Kara, and you didn’t want her here.”

“She is. I don’t.” Lois snapped her fingers. “That doesn’t mean our table shouldn’t look presentable. Jeez, Smallville, show some class. Entertaining for the enemy is still entertaining. Now go get me that ironing board. Chop, chop.”

“I… Yes, dear.”

………………………………..

“I still don’t understand why I couldn’t have flown us here,” Kara pouted from the passenger seat of the sleek sports car as the Kansas countryside flashed past. “We’d have arrived a lot quicker.”

“Kara, Sweetie, you may be a Super, but even you wouldn’t have been able to carry everything,” Lena smiled patiently over at the pouting Kryptonian, then motioned with one hand to the mountains of bags piled onto the backseat - each bag overloaded with groceries. Because Kara had quite possibly taken Lois’ request to “be in charge of desserts” far too literally, in Lena’s opinion. If there was a single dessert left in National City, it would be a small miracle, judging by the abundance of food they were now driving with them to Kansas.

“You know, this is so nice,” Kara smiled as she reached into the back and snagged a muffin from one of the bags. “Me being able to be honest and open in front of you, about who I really am with my family and everything.” She took a huge bite of the muffin, then groaned in sheer delight and thrust out the other half to Lena, before the other woman even had a chance to comment. “Oh Rao, you have  **got** to try this!”

“Maybe later,” Lena replied with a grin, shaking her head. 

“I could have just flown the whole car here,” Kara shrugged as she peeled back the paper wrapper of the muffin, then took another huge bite. 

Lena sighed. “I may be a scientist who is constantly striving to make the future a better place through technological advances and breakthroughs, but I’m certainly in no hurry to be the first human to drive a flying car.”

“Technically, you wouldn’t be driving,” Kara smirked, before placing the remainder of the muffin into her mouth, chewing for a moment and then speaking around the food, as she pointed at herself. “I would.”

“Yes, well, let’s just say I have enough on my mind to worry about without having to constantly worry about your driving as well,” Lena mumbled though not quietly enough given the other occupant of the car had super hearing. 

“Hey,” she reached out a hand gently, and placed it over Lena’s, which had now started to grip the wheel so that her knuckles turned white. “Lena?” 

“Hmmm?” Lena didn’t look her way, she was too focussed on the road ahead, but Kara knew that she had the young Luthor’s attention.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Lena shook her head with a sigh.

“Lena,” Kara’s tone had taken on a slightly more forceful edge now. Not so much a warning, but more of a reminder about who Lena was speaking to now. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m a Luthor,” Lena sighed at last, and it was that same tired, resigned sigh that she always used when she gave her surname as a reason, or an excuse for anything. As if this was all the explanation anyone ever needed. Which usually it was if it had been anyone other than Kara, who she’d been speaking to now.

“And?” Kara shrugged. 

“And your cousin is Superman. He and my brother don’t exactly have the best track record.”

“You’re worried about Clark? Psssh,” Kara waved a hand dismissively. “Clark’s a big pussy cat. You’ve already met him, remember? He wrote that glowing article on you a few years back.”

“And speaking of articles, are we forgetting who Clark is engaged to?”

“Lois?” Kara frowned again. “Oh, she’s great, don’t worry about her. You’ll love her, and she’ll love you too. How can she not?”

“Because she’s Lois Lane? The Pitbull of Journalism?”

Kara gasped. “That’s not very fair! You don’t even know her!”

“What’s to know? She’s a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who doesn’t hold her punches, says what she thinks and writes the truth, no matter the consequences.” 

“I… well… yeah, ok so maybe you do know her a little,” Kara floundered, adjusting her civilian glasses uncomfortably. “But that’s just her reputation. You don’t know her as an actual person. Like, a  _ person _ -person.” 

“I read what she wrote about my brother after his trial,” Lena admitted after several quiet moments of contemplation. “Every word she wrote was the truth… and every word of it stung like hell. She… She seemed to know Lex more than any other reporter I’ve ever had the misfortune — ”

“Hey!”

“ — or the pleasure of meeting. Her relationship with my brother was personal. Not professional. I had no idea why, until recently.”

“What do you mean?” Kara frowned as Lena slowed at an intersection and looked both ways to see if anything was coming, before she pressed down on the gas again and they carried on.

“Lex attacked the man she loved. Of course, it was personal for her. I remember seeing her at his trial - the look in her eye when she glanced across to me and mother. It was…” Lena paused, shaking her head sadly. “I thought I’d grown used to people looking at me with nothing but hatred. But that was nothing compared to the way she was looking at us.”

“Lena, I had no idea,” Kara whispered softly as she reached back out and this time placed her hand on Lena’s shoulder, giving it a gentle, comforting squeeze. Lena turned her head and kissed Kara’s knuckles lightly. “It’s not too late to turn back, you know? We can, I dunno, claim that I’m ill or something?”

“Short of Kryptonite poisoning, I very much doubt they’d ever believe you were ill,” Lena smiled at the kind but futile gesture. Then she sat up a little straighter in the seat. “No, we should do this. I need to do this. I feel like I owe it to Miss Lane and your cousin to at least try and make amends for my brother’s deeds.”

“Maybe we should choose a codeword?” Kara suggested, all of a sudden out of the blue.

Lena blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Well, you know, in case things get too much and you need to get out of there, we should have a code word, or something?”

“I don’t think — ” Lena started, and then glanced across to see the look in the blonde’s eyes and sighed again, amending what she had originally been going to say. “ — I could come up with anything suitable.”

“Oh it’s easy!” Kara flashed her a brilliant smile as she also sat up. “It just has to be something easy to remember, but not something that could come up in everyday conversation by mistake.”

“Like otorhinolaryngology?”

Kara blinked. “Say what now?”

“Otorhinolaryngology.”

“Once more for the Kryptonian in the car?”

“It’s the study of ears, noses, and throats.” 

Kara nodded, a completely bemused expression on her face as she tried to mouth the word to herself. Slowly her nod turned into a shake of the head. “Nope, it’s no good. I can’t remember that. How about… butterscotch?”

“Kara, we’ve brought four butterscotch tarts with us. What would happen if I asked you to pass the butterscotch tart, and you insisted on making a hasty exit when all I wanted was some tart?”

“Huh,” Kara pushed her glasses back up her nose again. “Good point. Pumpkin?”

“We have pumpkin pie with us.”

“Treacle sponge?”

“We’ve got three.”

“Jello?”

“Kara,” Lena couldn’t help but laugh out loud, shaking her head again helplessly. “Are you able to think of anything other than food?”

“But I’m hungry,” Kara whined, reaching in the back again, only to receive a sharp slap across the back of her hand.

“Keep going and there won’t be any food left by the time we get there.”

…………………………

“Keep going and there won’t be any food left by the time they get here!” Lois snapped, slapping Clark’s hand away from one of the bowls of nibbles and snacks she’d set out on the coffee table in the living room.

“Can’t I just have one?”

“Clark, you’ve already had one,” Lois scowled. “One whole bowl, that is! Save some for everyone else!”

He grumbled something incoherent and sunk back into the sofa, picking up the remote to flick through the sports channels. Lois took the opportunity while he was momentarily distracted, to head back to the kitchen. She may not like the idea of a Luthor coming to join the festivities, but she’d not taken secret cooking lessons for the past year for nothing, and she’d be damned if this Christmas dinner was anything less than perfect now, Luthor or no Luthor! Just as she was about to check on the turkey, however, Clark’s voice called through to her from the other room.

“Honey, they’re here!” 

Crossing to the kitchen window, she could see a distant cloud of dust at the end of the long driveway up to the Kent farm and took a deep breath, smoothing imaginary creases from her silk blouse. Then she glanced at the half glass of wine she’d been sipping throughout the food preparations despite it only being mid morning.

“Well, it’s twelve o’clock somewhere,” she told herself before downing the rest of the glass in one then walking back through to the living room to find Clark speeding throughout the house, turning on all the lights and decorations. She pressed a hand to her forehead briefly to stop the headache of trying to keep track of nothing but a blur, then turned right back around and went to refill her wine glass again in the kitchen.

………………………..

“Merry Christmas, Cousin!” Kara beamed as she jumped out of the car and ran to hug him, Lena following at a much more sedate pace behind.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Cousin!” Clark laughed as he returned the hug, the two of them gripping one another so tightly that any human would have been crushed in their embrace. “Lois is just finishing up inside, but she’ll be so delighted to see you’re here!” Letting Kara go, he glanced past her to where Lena was standing a little way off, admiring the farmstead and various outbuildings. “Miss Luthor,” he called to her, catching her attention at last and flashing her one of his dazzling, toothy smiles as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, in a move so eerily similar to his cousin that it was uncanny.

“Mr. Kent,” Lena smiled, stepping forwards at last and extending her hand to him. “A pleasure to meet you again. And Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too. Please, call me Clark,” he smiled, gripping her hand firmly, but not so tight that he would break bones.

“Hey, where’s Krypto?” Kara spun in a circle, looking all around and even jumped up to hover a little, a few feet off the ground so she could get a better look.

“How should I know?” Clark shrugged. “He has his own agenda… much like Lois.” With a wry grin, he turned back to Lena “Speaking of Lois, come on inside and I’ll introduce you to my better half.”

He led the way inside and the first thing both women noticed was the amazing aroma that engulfed the house - a mixture of meats, spices, fruits and sweet goodness all rolled into one. 

“Is Aunt Martha here?” Kara frowned as she tilted her head back and sniffed the air with several long, loud sniffs. “This smells amazing! I didn’t know she was coming, as well?”

“She’s not here,” Clark grinned. “It’s just the four of us.”

“But the food?”

“Cooked by none other than yours truly,” Lois emerged from the kitchen, beaming proudly. Kara blinked.

“But… you can’t cook!”

Lena inhaled sharply at Kara’s audacity, and even Lois glared at the Kryptonian for a very long, very intense moment. Clark froze, perhaps unsure how to react. And then Lois snorted, barely containing her laughter as she stepped forward and engulfed Kara in a very warm, loving hug. “Cheeky cow.”

“But you can’t,” Kara continued, relieved as she hugged Lois back.

“It’s never too late to learn.”

“So where’s Krypto?”

“Kara Zor-El, did you really come all this way just to see our dog?” Lois smirked, and this time it was Kara’s turn to gasp. 

“You full named me? That’s just mean.”

“You’re bulletproof. You’ll get over it.”

“Seriously though, where is he?”

“He’s around somewhere. I’m sure he’ll be along soon,” Lois chuckled as she turned to the only other person in the room who was human. Though when she spoke, all merriment and humor had dropped from her voice to be replaced by stoic professionalism, void of all emotion. “Miss Luthor.” 

“Miss Lane,” Lena nodded politely in return, matching Lois’ turn. “Thank you for inviting me to your lovely home.”

Lois didn’t say anything, choosing not to in light of the fact that she had nothing nice to say, so thought it perhaps wise in this instance to actually think before speaking. This, however, left another long moment of awkward silence, before Clark clapped his hands together. “So, I got a new engine for the train set. Who wants to see?”

“Ooh me! Me!” Kara nodded, positively delighted. “Lena? You coming?” Kara grabbed Lena’s hand and didn’t even give her the chance to protest before she dragged her over to the Christmas tree and the scale model of a steam engine that was currently chugging it’s way round a track that looped and twisted round the tree and all the presents neatly stacked underneath. It even emitted tiny little puffs of smoke with every chug, and every now and then it would whistle as well.

“It’s so cute!” Kara enthused as she sat herself down cross legged on the floor to watch it. Lena took a seat cautiously on the nearby sofa, though she couldn’t help but fidget and squirm a little, feeling like she was under intense scrutiny from a pair of eyes that were boring into the back of her skull. 

Clark seemed to sense her unease and sat on the arm of the sofa beside her. “Don’t worry about Lois. She gets hangry.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Kara nodded in understanding, still watching the little train chugging its way round the track. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Clark. “What happened to my one? You haven’t put it out this year.”

Her barely disguised pout was enough to cause Lena to chuckle, though she quickly hid it behind her hand. 

“That’s because, Baby Cousin, I was saving that particular honor for you and your friend,” Clark revealed, reaching behind the sofa and pulling out a shoebox with Kara’s name painted on the top in bright pink letters, along with several painted daisy flowers in pinks and whites and yellows and purples. 

“Watch it, Kal-El, I’m still technically older than you,” Kara stuck her tongue out at him, then took the box and beckoned for Lena to join her on the floor. “Come on, help me build.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly,” Lena shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not a builder, I’m a supervisor. Emphasis on  _ Super _ .”

“Ah, gotcha,” Kara mock saluted, grinning broadly as she then proceeded to lay out everything in her shoe box across the floor so that she could inspect it all.

“Mr. Kent, would you be so kind as to direct me to your restroom?”

“Down the hallway, first door on the right. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you.”

Clark watched her go, the smile on his face remaining as his gaze shifted to his cousin working so ardently on her trains. “You seem happy.”

“It’s Christmas, and I have my trains. Duh.”

“No, I mean,” he tilted back his head in the direction Lena had disappeared. “You seem lighter, Kara, like a weight has been lifted. It’s nice.”

“Yeah it is.” Kara tucked her legs tightly to her torso and rested her chin on her knees. “I’m so glad I told her.”

“Worked out better than you’d hoped?”

“Well, not better than I’d hoped. Let’s just say it wasn’t better than my wildest dreams,” she grinned, “but better than I’d expected, yeah. She’s amazing. We’re amazing.”

“Good, you deserve amazing. Never settle for anything less.”

“I’m not. She’s smart, and kind, plus have you seen her?”

“I…” Clark glanced up toward the kitchen where Lois was tucked away and whispered, “I have but don’t get me in trouble.”

Kara made a zipping motion over her lips then a locking motion and threw away the imaginary key. The cousins returned to their trains for a few minutes, both enjoying this seasonal ritual.

Clark eventually broke the quiet and asked, “Alex and Eliza are on board?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Kara shrugged as she locked a train onto her engine. “Alex has worked with Lena on dozens of missions that have saved countless lives. You should have seen Eliza’s face when I told her Lena and I were dating.”

“Happy?”

“Ecstatic. Later that day, she emailed me one of Lena’s white papers with sections highlighted and asked if I’d be willing to send some questions to Lena now that I had ‘exclusive access’ which is the least sexy way to say dating that I’ve ever heard.”

“But didn’t she already know you two were friends?”

“She did, but I guess she thought we were more like business acquaintances. I had interviewed Lena, and she thought is was more professional instead of… unprofessional?” Kara had the good graces to blush and duck her face.

Clark laughed and punched her lightly on the shoulder. “I’m glad you got there and that your family isn’t giving you any problems about dating her because… you know.”

“Huh?” Kara looked up at him, brows drawn together sharply. “Clark, Alex came out like two years ago. I’ll admit I was still nervous, but it went fine. Eliza said it was all the same to her as long as she still got grandchildren… and then she stared at Alex. It was scary.”

“I don’t mean because of that, Kara, I mean because—”

From elsewhere in the house there was a yelp and a thud. The cousins looked at each other and then at Lois who stepped out of the kitchen and asked, “Did you two idiots break something?”

“That wasn’t us,” Clark said.

“Lena.” As quickly as she spoke, Kara was gone with Clark on her heels.

“Wait for me!” Lois said as she dashed into the hallway after the aliens.

In the hallway, Lena stood pinned to the wall with a large white dog standing on its hind legs, his front paws pressed into her shoulders and his nose rather invasively sniffing her jaw and ear.

“Krypto, no. Down!” Clark yelled.

Lois snickered at the end of the hallway as she slowed her pace and strolled up to the scene.

Glancing back at the others, Krypto harrumphed before laying a big, sloppy, wet kiss up the side of Lena’s cheek, dropping down to all fours, and trotting past the newcomers with a rather satisfied look on his face.

“Huh, sorry about that, Miss Luthor. Seems like he likes you,” Clark said.

“You have good taste, buddy,” Kara said, patting Krypto in his passing which garnered her a quick hand lick.

Lois just glared at the dog and grumbled, “Traitor.”

“You okay?” Kara asked. “He’s completely harmless and really smart. That was a good sign.”

“I could use a napkin.” Lena said as she wiped her face with her sleeve.

“I’m really sorry about that, Miss Luthor,” Clark said. “We’ve tried to train him. It’s not that he doesn’t understand, but Krypto is… Well, he’s Krypto.”

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Kent. He just startled me. I stepped out of the bathroom and found myself against the wall. It’s actually quite nice to be around an animal which is a pet and not some kind of guard or show animal.”

Kara smiled encouragingly and ushered Lena back into the living room, only parting ways to return to her trains.

“Can I get you a towel or a drink, Miss Luthor?” Clark asked.

“A drink, please. I’ll have some wine if there’s any going?” Then she faltered. “Or… is it too early for wine?”

“Don’t worry, Lois decided about two hours ago that it was wine o’clock somewhere,” Clark smirked.

“A woman after my own heart. And please, call me Lena.”

As Clark headed to the kitchen and Kara sat with the trains laughing quietly between making “Choo-choo” noises, Lena allowed her attention to wander around the living room. It was rather homey, definitely something suiting a boy from Kansas who grew up to be The Man of Steel, but with more formal touches that spoke of Lois. Intrigued by a series of photos on a side table, Lena wandered to that end of the room. There were photos of a young Clark with an older couple, all standing close and smiling. Some photos were just him and the man or him and the woman, and on the wall was a larger picture of the man and woman together. The scenes ranged from formal, through a homey living room or kitchen, and to one where Clark, who didn’t even look to be of school age, was sitting on the man’s lap on a tractor with corn fields in the background.

There were photos of Lois at a young age also, but fewer. She looked somber standing there with a petite girl who seemed to be a younger sibling. In some there was a man, tall and rigid in his stance and occasionally in an Army uniform. Lena ran a finger along the top of one photo frame containing a picture of a very young Lois, seven or eight at the oldest, with the younger girl and a woman who likely was their mother. It was the only childhood picture of Lois in which the reporter was smiling honestly. There were later photos, ones of her and Clark, and in those it was clear that natural smile had returned.

Lena’s gaze was skirting from photo to photo when she froze, all of her attention suddenly narrowed in on one spot. She lifted a silver frame, obviously good quality, with an image of two smiling, young men. One was Clark in a letterman’s jacket, and the second someone she hadn’t seen in years. Her fingers ghosted over the smiling image of her brother before his insanity took him and he took the lives of so many people in Metropolis.

Clark walked quietly up to her, glass of wine in hand, as he realized what she was looking at. He stood by her side for a moment, not saying a word, then quietly passed her the glass of wine.

Lost in her own thoughts, Lena startled at Clark’s presence. She moved the photo in her hand slightly behind her, an awkward smile on her face. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I…”

“Don’t be,” he smiled kindly. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.” 

Placing the photo back in place, Lena nodded her thanks as she took the wine and a sip from the glass. “I just… I wasn’t expecting…” She gestured toward the photo of Clark and Lex.

“We weren’t always enemies,” Clark sighed. “In fact, enemy is still a pretty strong word. Your brother was a good man. A good friend. He just…” he paused, considering his words carefully, pushing his glasses back up his nose out of habit more than anything. “... Made some poor choices, shall we say.”

“He lost himself, and many innocents paid the price.” Lena offered Clark a gentle smile. “I don’t often meet anyone who has anything good to say about my brother. Sometimes, I feel like I’m the only one who remembers that man.”

“A word of advice, Miss Luthor,” Clark dropped his voice low, knowing that Kara would still be able to hear if she chose to do so, but it was more so that a certain other person wouldn’t hear, instead. “Maybe don’t mention him to Lois. She took it quite personally that your brother not only tried to kill me but also her more than once. She’s not quite as bulletproof as I am, but thankfully, the  _ Planet _ has some great healthcare benefits.” He paused, then frowned, considering. “Which is a good job really, considering how often Lois needs them.”

“Well, then that may be the one thing Miss Lane and I have in common, and I don’t mean healthcare though L-Corp’s is excellent, and I’ve certainly used more than my fair share of it. I mean, we’ve both been at the wrong end of my brother’s murderous madness, on more than one occasion, and lived to tell the tale. I can’t speak for Miss Lane, but I have a Super to thank for my continued well-being,” she said glancing back at Kara.

“I’m sure Lois would say that having your own Super is more of a hazard to your health than a help,” Clark chuckled. “But then she’s Lois. She’d get into trouble with or without a Super nearby, so I think she’s just a general hazard to her own health.”

“I owe my life to Kara more than a dozen times over, most of it long before I knew Kara and Supergirl were one in the same. Personally, I find having a Super on speed dial to be a perk, no, a necessity. Maybe it’s a Luthor thing.” She took a sip of her wine, eyes sparkling as she watched Clark.

He laughed, shaking his head. “Miss Luthor—”

There was a loud bang from the general direction of the kitchen and then a long string of very loud, very colourful expletives from Lois. Clark sighed and rolled his eyes, as if this was normal, though he did turn to briefly study the kitchen, tilting his glasses so he could peer over the top of them. Then he pushed them back up his nose again, apparently not worried by what he’d seen through the walls.

“Perhaps steer clear of the kitchen for a while,” he advised with a smile.

Lena glanced several times between Clark and the direction he’d looked. “Something wrong?”

“When Lois is in the kitchen?” Clark didn’t finish with anything else, and just left that to linger, but now his eyes were sparkling with mischief and amusement, as well.

“Well then, I’ll have to rely on you to keep me in good spirits.” Lena held up her glass, tapping it and smiling at Clark.

“I’m sorry, Miss Luthor, I may be bulletproof, but even I know when to back away from a fight,” he smirked. “That kitchen is strictly a no fly zone, right now, to anyone who values their life.”

“I see. Is there a liquor store around here that delivers?”

“On Christmas day?” Clark raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I don’t think so.”

Lena swirled the wine in her glass and took another sip. “Trust me, Mr. Kent, if you tip well enough, anything is possible.”

There were another few choice expletives from the direction of the kitchen area, though not quite as loud as the first time.

Frowning slightly, Lena said, “Are you sure someone shouldn’t go in there and offer Miss Lane some help? I may not look it, but I was trained by a French chef who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu.”

Clark shrugged. “The last time a Luthor got on the wrong side of a Lane, things didn’t go well. But I trust you, Lena. If you think you can be of some help, please be our guest.”

“I promise not to destroy part of the city in my attempt.” Lena gave a slight tilt of her head before heading into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the turkey sat on the stovetop, and the oven was wide open. Both oven racks stood upright, outside of the oven. On hands and knees, Lois peered into the oven, her head partially inside and turning up and down as she looked around.

Lena cleared her throat. “I hope my presence hasn’t convinced you that the only way out of spending time with a Luthor is ending it all. I’ve had people avoid me before, but this would be a new low.”

There was another loud bang as Lois jumped and her head collided with a part of the oven interior.

“Son of a bitch!” she growled, backing out and massaging her head.

“Daughter, actually, but go on.”

“Nuance,” Lois grumbled, still on her knees as she glared up at Lena. “Want something?”

“I came to offer my assistance, perhaps as a sous chef, but if you think getting into the oven is part of the process, you may need more help than I can provide.”

“Funny,” Lois growled again, getting back to her feet. “You learn stand up comedy at… wherever it was you went to school… which was no doubt posh and poncy and fancy and lah-di-dah…?”

“MIT, and it was fine.” Lena shrugged. “Actually, I learned comedy at home. Humor is born of adversity.” Lena gestured toward the stove. “So, what seems to be the problem with your oven?”

“Damned thing won’t do what it’s meant to,” Lois sighed, letting go of her head finally, and gesturing to the turkey. “Can you believe that’s been in there for three hours, and I didn’t even notice?! I blame Clark. He kept interrupting me.”

With the slight change in atmosphere in their conversation, Lena stepped a bit closer to Lois and peered at the turkey. “Yes, that does look a bit underdone. Unless you’re planning on serving salmonella for dinner, we best find a solution. Is the oven heating at all?”

“Would I have had my head in it, if it was?” Lois scowled. “I’m a Lane, but I’m not stupid.”

“My apologies if I implied otherwise, but you’d be amazed at the excuses for lab safety that I’ve seen in my time.” She took a step closer and gestured to the oven. “May I?”

Lois raised an eyebrow. “No offense, Corporate… actually yes, offense fully intended. You’re just a pencil pushing rich bitch. What could you possibly do that I can’t to get it working again?”

“Well, I am that, but I also have two doctorates in engineering, and I never use anything I don’t understand.” Lena raised one eyebrow. “And I do know how to cook.”

“I know how a nuclear missile works. Doesn’t mean I know how to make one,” Lois rolled her eyes, but stepped back and gestured to the oven anyway, as an invitation for Lena to carry on.

“Yes, but I’m sure you could write a stunning article about one,” Lena said as she stepped closer and crouched in front of the oven. “We all have our strengths. Would you mind turning the gas on?”

Lois raised both eyebrows this time. “As incredibly tempting as that is, Luthor, what the actual hell would I do that for?”

With a sly grin, Lena looked up at Lois. “You’d actually pass up this opportunity to do so with a willing Luthor?”

“It’s not so appealing when the Luthor is willing,” Lois shrugged, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of one lip.

“Fair enough. How about, I want to verify that the oven has decent gas flow. I’m diagnosing the problem.”

Lois considered for a moment, then sighed and reached across, turning the gas dial on the control panel.

Head turned, Lena listened for a moment before nodding. “You can turn it off. The gas is working, which is a good sign.”

“Sure you don’t want a match to double check?” Lois smirked as she turned it off again.

“Such a kind offer but I’ll decline. What we need to do,” Lena leaned into the stove, fiddling with the base near the back, “is remove this burner shield from the base of the oven. It’s not screwed in, just clipped into place, so this should be a,” with a clicking noise, Lena removed the metal plate that covered the base of the oven, “snap.” She pulled it out and slid it to the side on the kitchen floor. “Be a dear and turn on the gas again, won’t you?”

Lois chose not to make any more smart comments because in all honesty she was now more than a little curious about what was going on. So she did as she was asked and leaned over to turn the dial again.

Lena stayed crouched, silently peering into the oven.

Lois resisted the urge to do anything, and stood impatiently tapping her foot. Finally, the silence became too much for her. “Anything?”

“Give it another thirty seconds, but it doesn’t look promising.” After those seconds had passed, Lena sighed. “You can turn off the gas. Your ignitor isn’t lighting.”

“And I guess you’re going to tell me it’s a part which needs replacing, and the only place to get that part is in a shop that is closed because it’s Christmas Day, the one day of the year when you absolutely do not need the oven to pack up on you.” Lois sighed and folded her arms “I told Mrs. K this thing was ancient, but she wouldn’t have any of it and said it was perfectly fine. Which I suppose to be fair to her it was, earlier on when I made the cookies and pies. But now?”

Only half-listening, Lena continued to stare into the oven until she pushed to standing and asked, “Were you planning on broiling anything?”

Lois looked at her for a moment as if she’d just spoken a foreign language that she didn’t understand. “I just want to cook the damned turkey without having to resort to Clark’s heat vision. I have not spent the best part of a year learning how to cook, just to be foiled by a stupid, ancient piece of junk now!”

“I’ll take that as a no. Do you have a,” Lena crouched again, peering into the bottom of the oven, '' Phillips screwdriver?”

Lois thought for a moment. “There’s probably one out in the barn, somewhere. Smallville!”

“Yes, Honey?” Clark’s head appeared round the door in an instant, though his expression was nervous, as if he wasn’t sure what to expect. 

“Luthor needs a Phillips screwdriver.”

Clark nodded and vanished, back again a couple of seconds later, brandishing said screwdriver. Once he’d handed it to Lois, he beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen again.

“Here,” Lois used the handle to tap Lena’s shoulder and get her attention, then held it out to her.

“Thank you.” Lena pulled out her cell phone, turning on the light and lying it on the base of the oven. She began to unscrew something on the top of the oven’s interior.

“Whoa there, Lady. What are you doing?” Lois dropped to her knees as well, so she could see.

“I’m removing the ignitor for the broiler, since you won’t be using it. I intend to replace the oven broiler with this one,” Lena said, holding out a screw for Lois to take.

Lois eyed it for a moment, then reluctantly took it. “Remember, Luthor, you break it you bought it.”

Lena continued to work on the next screw. “I’ll try to be careful. I’d hate to ruin my budget.”

“You can afford it,” Lois rolled her eyes, but there was less and less heat to her words now, as she was slowly being won round by Lena’s actions and words. She’d never admit it, and there was still a long way to go, but perhaps maybe, just maybe, she might not need to necessarily be so hostile to the young woman. Though of course she was a Luthor. There was every possibility that this was all just a ploy to get closer to the Supers. Perhaps she was there to finish what her brother had started and was lulling them into a false sense of security so they wouldn’t suspect anything.

Well Lois Lane wasn’t fooled. She would be watching Lena Luthor like a hawk.

Lena handed over the last of the screws, disconnected a set of wires from the back, and pulled out something that looked a bit like a tuning fork. She handed it out for Lois to take. “Your ignitor.”

“Your… something,” Lois floundered, intending for some witty, sarcastic retort and falling flat.

Lena quirked an eyebrow but didn’t respond, instead returning to working on the oven. She repeated the process on the bottom that she had just done to the top, pulling out several screws and finally a second ignitor. “Trade you?”

Seeing what was going on now, Lois handed it over silently and carried on watching. And then a thought occurred to her. “How do I know you’re not rigging this thing to explode the moment it’s turned on?”

Lena sighed heavily. “Why don’t you and Mr. Kent wait outside. I’ll turn it on, and he can view it from a safe distance.”

“I notice you didn’t include Kara in that. So you  **are** trying to get her killed! I knew it!” Lois pointed one finger conspiratorially at Lena.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Lena snapped. She glared at Lois for several moments before rising to her feet. “I am not my brother. I am not my mother. I’ve also nearly died at their hands multiple times. I am sick and tired of apologizing for…” She paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out before walking around Lois and to Clark. She handed him several screws and the good ignitor. “Mr. Kent, it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we can do it again at some point in less hostile surroundings. I’m certain you can find a Youtube video of some kind to explain how to install this. Good luck with the oven,” she glanced back at Lois, “and with her.” Without another word, she left the kitchen.

Grumbling to herself, her heels clicking on the hardwood flooring, Lena grabbed her coat, pulling it on, and her purse. The whole time she continued to mutter fairly incoherent unpleasantries, switching through several languages as she did so.

“What happened?” Kara asked, suddenly by Lena’s side.

With a slight growl, Lena shook her head. “I need to leave. I’ll be taking the jet. I assume you can make other flight arrangements for yourself because,” Lena waved her hand up and down in front of Kara, “well, you know. Merry Christmas.” She leaned in, attempting to kiss Kara’s cheek.

“No,” Kara said as she took a step back.

“No?”

“No, it will not be a Merry Christmas if you leave. I want you here.”

Lena glanced back at the kitchen. “Thank you, darling, but it’s not your home. I know when I’m not welcome. I’m very familiar with the feeling. I’ll see you back at the city.” With that, Lena pulled open the front door and stepped outside.

“Tell me what happened,” Kara said, hot on Lena’s heels and dressed only in a t-shirt and slacks, even walking through several inches of snow in just her stocking feet. “Was it Clark? Did Clark say something to upset you?”

“No, Mr. Kent was a perfect gentleman,” Lena said never breaking stride. “He was much kinder than I expected, though given his altruistic alter-ego, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I hope I have an opportunity to see him again at a less… strenuous juncture.”

“Oh, it was Lois.” Kara rubbed the back of her neck. “That makes sense. What did she say?”

“Nothing the Luthor name hasn’t earned, I’m sure. Normally, it wouldn’t have bothered me, but… she made it personal.”

“Personal?” Lena frowned. “How did she make it personal?”

“She just did, all right? Please let it go, Kara. I’m sure you’ll all have a much nicer dinner without me.” Arriving at the car, Lena pulled on the handle but the car door didn’t budge. She sighed as she looked at Kara’s hand laying across the top of the door. “Please just let me leave, Kara.”

“Not like this. If you’re leaving, I’m going with you.”

“Kara, no.” Lena stepped in, laying a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “You wanted to spend Christmas with your family. I don’t want to interfere with that.”

“If you leave, I won’t be spending Christmas with my family.” For several moments, neither of them spoke, and then Kara shook her head. “Okay, what exactly did Lois say to you because Clark is really letting her have it right now. I’ve never heard him angry with her like this before, and she’s pulled a lot of crazy stunts.”

“They’re fighting?”

“Not exactly. Clark is reading her the riot act. Lois has barely gotten a word in.”

“Huh. Even given the little I know about Miss Lane, I find that surprising.”

“Right?” Kara placed both hands on Lena’s shoulders and smiled. “My family wants you here. I want you here.”

“Yes, but Miss Lane—”

“Doesn’t run everything… but don’t tell her I said that. She can be really frightening sometimes.”

“She’s human.”

“So is your mother.”

Eyes wide, Lena stared at Kara in disbelief. “I’ll give you a million dollars to draw that similarity in front of her.”

“Which her?”

“I was thinking Miss Lane, but either of them would be fine, really.”

“That’s nowhere near enough money. Your mother would just kill me, and Lois would make me wish your mother had killed me. You can’t spend money when you’re dead or praying to Rao for the sweet embrace of death.”

Hand over her mouth, Lena glanced at the ground.

“Did you just smile?” Kara asked as she bent slightly, grinning at Lena.

Lena snapped her head up, her hand coming down as she stared placidly at Kara. “Certainly not.”

“Oh, okay.” Kara wrapped her arms around Lena’s waist, pulling the other woman in closer. “I’d hate to ruin your bad mood.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing you didn’t,” Lena replied as she wrapped her hands around the back of Kara’s neck.

“Good.” Kara placed a gentle kiss on Lena’s lips. “Because you’re really cute when you’re angry. Your eyes lash, and your lips look kissable.”

“That’s when they look kissable?”

“Extra kissable,” Kara said kissing Lena again. “When’s your next board meeting? I’ll drop by afterwards so we can make out.”

Lena chuckled. “Or I could just speak with Miss Lane again.”

“Hey, whatever it takes to set the mood.” They kissed again, and then Kara pulled back slightly. “We’re about to get company.”

“Put me down, Smallville!” Lois snapped. “I have feet! I can walk!” 

Clark paced out to join the other two women, clad in just his jeans and flannel shirt and socks, pretty much the same as Kara, with one very grumpy Lois Lane thrown over one shoulder.

“ **Clark** !” She hollered. “This is humiliating! Put me down or so help me I’ll—”

“Ladies,” Clark smiled, nodding to them both and cutting Lois off. “Lois has something she’d like to say to you both.”

“Oh I’ve got lots to say!” Lois fumeds. “Put me down, you -!” Her next word was unrecognisable to Lena, but it made Kara gasp, wide-eyed.

“Clark? You taught her to swear in Kryptonian?!”

“Not one of my better ideas, granted,” Clark shook his head.

Lena stood, arms wrapped around herself and chin thrust out.

Kara looked back and forth between where Lois fumed and Lena stewed, reaching out to tug one of Lena’s hands free and hold it in her own. “So,” she cleared her throat, “you wanted to say something, Lois?”

Lois sucked in a deep breath as Clark set her back on her feet. “It’s fucking freezing out here! Can we at least go back inside before I freeze my ass off?”

Lena shrugged, tugging on the lapel of her wool coat with her free hand. “I’m fine. Kara, Mr. Kent?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I love Kansas in the winter.” Kara exhaled upwards, smiling as the mist rose from her mouth. “How about you, Clark?”

“The fresh air’s quite nice,” he smiled confidently.

Lois looked to each of them in turn, her scowl deepening. “I see what this is. You’re all ganging up on me, making me freeze my ass off as punishment for having an opinion. Well, it won’t work. I’m a Lane, and we’re made of stronger stuff than most.”

Which would have been a lot more convincing if she wasn’t currently shivering and rubbing her arms furiously, even as she hopped from one foot to the other and back again.

“Well, if we’ve nothing to discuss,” Lena grasped the car door handle, pausing as Kara tugged lightly on her arm and pouted when Lena glanced back. With an eye roll, Lena sighed. “Well, that’s just not fair, Kara. Really, the pout?”

“It’s a Kryptonian thing,” Lois blurted out before she’d realized what she was saying. Then she thumbed in Clark’s direction. “His eyes, and his smile? Lethal combination.”

“As compared to hers?” Lena gestured at Kara with a tilt of her head. “It’s a miracle I’ve ever said no to her on anything.”

“You really haven’t,” Kara said with a smile.

“You’re not helping.” Lena squinted at Kara who looked away but still smiled. Then, meeting Lois’ gaze again, she said, “The proverbial ball is in your court, Lois. We’ll both freeze to death out here before they notice it snowed yesterday.”

Lois took another deep, shuddering breath, then let it out in a cloud of mist and looked down at her socks, which were getting soaked in the snow. “Miss Luthor, I apologize for what I said back in the kitchen.”

“Fine, water under the bridge. Consider it forgotten. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have a plane to catch.”

“Lena, it’s a private jet,” Kara said. “It leaves when you tell it to leave.”

“Exactly.”

“Miss Luthor,” Lois gritted her teeth, but mainly to stop them from trembling. “I am literally freezing my ass off here, so I can assure you my apology is genuine. I’m sorry.”

“Miss Lane, I believe you and accept your apology. However, I think the rest of the day will be more pleasant for everyone if you and I were in separate houses, preferably separate states, so I’m going to leave.”

“Not better for everyone,” Kara reminded Lena. “Won’t you just stay and give things another chance?”

“Kara,” Lena sighed.

“Lena,” Kara replied, a hint of challenge in her voice.

“Darling, you know I adore you, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be but by your side. If I stay, Miss Lane and I will get into another altercation. I don’t want to ruin for you one of the few days you get to spend with your cousin.” She stepped in, pressing a kiss to Kara’s cheek. “We can have our Christmas tomorrow, all right?”

“If you leave, I’m going with you.”

“No,” Lena and Clark said together, both looking slightly startled as their gazes met.

“See, your cousin doesn’t want you to leave.” Lena smiled slightly. “Kara, you have actual family to spend the holidays with. Don’t pass up this opportunity.”

“Miss Luthor… will it change… your mind… if… if I promise to… to be on my… best… behavior?” Lois asked through gritted teeth, hopping on the spot. “And… and I’ll… throw… wine… into the… into the deal too?... Lots and… and lots of… wine… or beer… or… or whatever…”

“Being on her best behavior is not a promise she makes lightly,” Clark grinned, wrapping an arm about his fiancee, who was well on the way to becoming a frozen popsicle. She snuggled willingly into his embrace, relishing his warmth.

“It’s not just that. I don’t want to make Miss Lane uncomfortable,” Lena said.

“I’m standing out here in next to nothing with wet socks, wet underwear, and I won’t go into too much detail, but I’m pretty uncomfortable right now as it is,” Lois replied. “Trust me, you won’t make it any worse.”

“I think that’s about as good as we’re going to get between them for now,” Kara said scooping up Lena in her arms and heading back to the house. “Clark, you take care of yours.”

“Kara, what do you think you’re doing? I do not need to be carried like…” Lena’s voice petered out of human hearing range as she was carted away, shortly to be replaced by Lois’ own exclamations of anger as Clark hoisted her up onto his shoulder again, carried her back inside, and dumped her (gently) in front of the fire with a kiss on the nose. 

“Sit back and relax, Rudolph. I’ll fix the oven, and then you can carry on playing chef. Deal?”

“I hate you,” Lois growled as she thrust her hands and feet out in front of the fire to warm up.

“Do you need some help?” Lena offered as she tried to stand from the couch but was instantly tugged back to a seat by Kara.

“I’ll help him,” Kara said as she rose and walked away, tossing over her shoulder, “Why don’t you and Lois stay here and chat? Bond?”

Lois and Lena looked uncertainly at each other.

“Leaving us alone is what got us in trouble in the first place!” Lena shouted after Kara who merely walked into the kitchen, closing the door behind her. After several moments of silence, Lena glanced Lois’ way and cleared her throat. “Well…”

“You do know they’re listening to every word we say?” Lois offered as she rubbed her hands together furiously.

“Right, I hadn’t considered that. I suppose I’m not really up to speed on being involved with a Super like you are. Some of it is a bit daunting if you consider it.”

“You get used to it,” Lois replied casually, as if this was a normal, everyday conversation. “Sometimes, they’ll do something and you’re reminded that they’re not human, but for the most part they are. They’re also dead handy if you have any stubborn jars you can’t open.”

“Ah, I have a machine that opens jars, but I can see what you mean. Kara’s very good at rearranging furniture.”

“Clark’s uses around this place are many and varied,” Lois nodded. “But it would have fallen to ruins a long time ago without him.”

“Is there something else here that needs repairing?” Lena slid forward on the couch, expression open and slightly hopeful.

“Well there’s Mr Kent’s tractor in the barn that won’t start. Clark hasn’t got the time to fix it any more, and I’m good at the basic stuff, but even I have no idea where to start.”

“A tractor in need of repair, you say.” Fingers steepled, Lena tapped them together. “I’m assuming the tools to repair it are in the barn also?”

Before Lois could respond, Kara cracked the door open, stuck out her head, and said, “No!” then disappeared into the kitchen again.

Lois just shook her head and peeled off one soggy sock after the other, wiggling her bare toes in front of the fire. “Told you.”

Arms crossed, Lena huffed as she slumped back into the couch and pouted, mumbling, “...ruins all my fun.”

Lois pointed at Lena, suddenly animated and excited. “Thank you! I’ve been saying that about Clark for years, but people told me I was exaggerating!”

“No, it’s like living in bubble wrap. How have you done it for this long?”

“Why do you think Trouble is now my middle name?” Lois shrugged, draping her socks carefully over the fire guard to dry them out. “I had to find fun somehow.”

“I can but imagine.” Lena leaned forward, closer to Lois. “Do you know Kara has even made comments about my drinking? She keeps count of my drinks, as if with a master’s in mathematics I can’t count. I’ve told her that what happens between a woman and her liver is sacred.”

Lois stared wide-eyed at Lena for a long moment and then grinned, properly, for the first time since Lena had met her. “I’m seeing you but hearing my words coming out of your mouth right now!”

“Do you think they get together and discuss how to shepard their humans?” Lena shook her head. “I don’t mean to come off as some Luthor conspiracy theorist… but do you?”

“What do you think their Fortress of Solitude is for?” Lois smirked.

Mouth agape, Lena stared for several moments before closing her mouth with an audible snap. “Good lord, I never even considered that. How do we even know they’re off saving people when they say they are and not having some secret meeting in the arctic to talk about us?”

“Seventy five percent of the time, Clark’s saving me, so I know he’s telling the truth then,” Lois shrugged. “The other twenty five percent? Well, that’s debatable.”

“Alright, oven is fixed and heating nicely,” Clark announced as he walked through from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a tea towel. Seeing the furious glares on both women’s faces - matching expressions - he froze on the spot, then began to back up slowly. “Uh… what’s… what’s that Kara? Oh! Right, yeah, I heard it too! Uh… just coming!”

“Clark, I didn’t—” Stopped in the doorway, Kara was pushed back into the kitchen by her cousin. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“If you value your life, don’t go through that door,” Clark blinked.

“Are they fighting again? Clark, we can’t leave them alone if—” She tried to walk by Clark only to be met with an arm like steel.

“They’re not fighting, Kara,” he replied, his tone grave. “They’re agreeing.”

“Uh, isn’t that a good thing? I thought we wanted them to get along.”

“They’re agreeing on what huge pains in the asses we apparently are.

“Oh.” Head down, Kara rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, that could be a problem. I hadn’t considered them outnumbering us two to two. What do you think we should do?”

“Break them up before they can do anything dangerous?” Clark suggested.

“Do you have any party games? Maybe we could all play charades or something, get them being competitive. Oh, but not Monopoly. Lena is some kind of Monopoly shark. It could end with blood in the water.”

“Lois cheats at Monopoly anyway, I’m sure of it,” Clark pondered as he rubbed his chin.

“Okay, what would give them the right level of competitive without being too competitive?”

Clark glanced back to the other room, scanning the two women through the wall to see that they were back to chatting again. “Well, Lena seems like a genius, so she’d have an unfair advantage in any sort of quiz. Lois is the Queen of Charades, so she’d have the unfair advantage there… oh! No, wait… no, we couldn’t possibly play that with Lena, poor woman…”

“Play what?”

“Cards Against Humanity.”

“Winn has it, but I’ve never played it. Alex always vetoes it when I’m there.” Kara grabbed a cookie from a tray and popped it into her mouth. “So long as it isn’t Supers Against Humanity, what’s the harm?”

“Clearly you’ve never played it against Lois,” Clark smirked.

Kara frowned. “How bad is it?”

“Put it this way - you don’t want to know what Lois’ reply was to the question  _ What is Batman’s guilty pleasure? _ ... Bruce was blushing for weeks after, and I’m sure he’ll never be able to look at her in the same way again!”

Recoiling, Kara nodded. “That game doesn’t sound safe for children… or me. What else do you have?”

“Uh…” Clark dipped his glasses down his nose again, but this time looked up to the ceiling. “We’ve got… Scrabble?”

“I’ve seen Lois’ spelling, and I know Lena’s vocabulary. Try again.”

“Yes, good point,” Clark nodded. “Cluedo? Lois is surprisingly good at that, actually. Though she’s convinced that I cheat at it by using x-ray vision to see what cards she’s got.” He held a hand to his chest. “On Rao’s honor, I swear I don’t… anymore.”

“Cluedo? Is that like Clue?”

“Right, Clue. Lois picked up the European version when she was covering an article in London a few years back. Seems they call it Cluedo.”

Kara shrugged. “Okay, Clue is harmless enough. What could go wrong?”

“Kara,” Clark scowled, as if she’d just said something terrible. “This is Lois and Lena we’re talking about. Anything can happen. Literally.”

“Right. Sorry.” Kara smiled sheepishly. “Maybe I should have just let Lena fix your parent’s old tractor.”

“And have Lois move their Kryptonian Bashing out there into the barn with her? Nah, better to keep them close so we can at least keep an eye on them.”

“Yeah, good point. I guess we need to…” Kara stopped suddenly, her attention turning to the door into the living room and Clark turning also.

After a few moments, the door opened and Lena and Lois both stared heavily at their respective Supers.

“What are you two up to?” Lois asked, her brows dipping suspiciously as she looked from one to the other.

“Yes, not planning any impromptu trips to the Fortress, are you?” Lena added.

“Cluedo!” Kara said overly eagerly as she clapped her hands together. “Let’s all play a board game, right, Clark?”

“Right,” Clark nodded quickly. “You know, while the turkey is cooking.”

“What about Cards-” Lois started.

“We decided on Cluedo,” Clark cut across quickly. “Because we figured it was the fairest.” Then he muttered under his breath. “And the safest.”

“Cluedo,” Lena said with a smile. “I haven’t played that since I was in boarding school. Should be fun.”

“This is the UK version,” Lois supplied as her hair whipped across her face and she pushed it back with one hand, not even making a fuss about it as Clark sped from the room to go and get the game, returning with it again a couple of seconds later. “Is everyone ok with that?”

“Of course,” Lena said. “What are we betting?”

“Honey,” Kara shook her head, “this is just a friendly game. We’re not betting.”

“I’m being friendly,” Lena replied. “I just thought we could include a friendly wager.”

“Glass of wine!” Lois blurted out.

“You want to bet a glass of wine?”

“No, that’s a pathetic wager,” Lois shook her head. “Each time you ask someone if they have a card, and they don’t, you have to down a glass of wine.” She looked at Clark and Kara. “Or Aldebaran rum, in their case because it wouldn't be fair otherwise.”

“Um, excuse me.” Kara headed towards the living room. “Clark? Clark, I think we need to talk again!”

Lois smirked and hooked a thumb after the two Kryptonians. “Hey look, Luthor, they’re at it again. What did I tell ya?”

“Yes, highly suspicious. You’re right, Lois. What do you think they’re up to now?”

“Most probably how they can now get out of getting themselves highly intoxicated when we whoop their asses at a board game. Have you ever seen a drunk Kryptonian? They’re highly amusing. Especially if you convince them that they’re human, and their super powers are just some weird trip they’re on.”

“Really,” Lena smirked. “Well, let’s get to beating some Kryptonians… in a game, I mean. I’m not threatening violence.”

“Why not?” Lois frowned, genuinely confused. “You do know we can never hurt them, right? At least not without Kryptonite. Or magic. Neither of which are allowed within a hundred miles of this place.”

“Right,” Lena raised her hands, “I’m certainly no magician, and I didn’t bring any kryptonite with me.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Lois smiled. “You’re not your brother, after all.”

“Thank you,” Lena said, a smile on her face and a hand on Lois’ shoulder as they walked together into the living room. “I wish more members of the press could see things your way.”

“Oh I’m one of a kind,” Lois nodded proudly.

In the living room, Clark and Kara both stood watching the news on TV. It showed a major earthquake in Japan, untold number of people missing and trapped.

Before either of them could say anything, Lena asked, “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, sweetie. It’s an emergency,” Kara kissed Lena on the cheek, “a matter of life and death.”

Clark simply walked over to Lois, who was already holding out her hand. He took off his glasses, folded them and placed them gently in her waiting palm.

“Go get ‘em, Smallville,” she nodded, the two of them sharing a brief kiss before he looked to Kara, nodded, and in unison the pair of them ripped open their shirts to reveal matching red ‘S’ symbols against royal blue and golden backgrounds.

Lois tucked Clark’s glasses into the pocket of the shirt she was wearing, for safekeeping until he returned. 

“Will you?” Kara held out her glasses to Lena.

With a sigh, Lena took them. “Of course. Just… be careful, all right? I still expect to spend Christmas with you.”

“Promise,” Kara said very seriously as she flashed out of the room, only her clothes and the breeze of her passing evidence that she’d even been there.

Clark stole another quick kiss with Lois, and then he was gone as well, his own clothes fluttering down to land in a pile on the floor.

Lois sighed and bent to scoop them up, folding them neatly and setting them on the arm of the sofa to wait for his return. “Well… that happened.”

As she also picked up and folded clothes, Lena nodded. “I suppose we should have expected it. We can’t have nice things, can we?”

“Honestly?” Lois sighed again, sadly. “No. We can’t. Not any more.”

“You know, I think Kara needs a costume that expands or grows over her clothes so she isn’t shedding them all over the streets of National City. It should also be shielded against kryptonite.” Lena bit the pad of her thumb. “I’m going to get to work on designing that as soon as we go home.”

“Right, good luck with that,” Lois replied, not taking her seriously because unlike the others, she really didn’t know Lena well enough to know that the young woman was being absolutely 100% serious.

“When we have a working prototype, I’ll have Kara let Clark know… if he’s willing to use something made by a Luthor. I wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t.”

“Lead is good at shielding kryptonite,” Lois offered as she walked into the kitchen, expecting Lena to follow so that she could check on the food. “Though it also stops their whole vision thing.” She pointed to her eyes, then the vague area in front of her as if trying to show lasers coming from her eyes. At least that’s what she hoped she was showing. 

Lena followed a bit aimlessly as she typed into her phone. “Antinomy, tungsten, and bismuth will all shield against radiation. I’ll have to test them all against some kryptonite to verify each of their shielding capabilities. If we were to make nanobots with one of those materials, we could create something capable of even reacting to the presence of kryptonite in the area and instinctively covering their hosts.”

“What have you got Kara for Christmas?” Lois looked up from where she’d been checking on the turkey. Then she blinked. “Oh, sorry, you were being sciency. Were you finished?”

Lena was silent, typing into her phone with a look of intense concentration on her face before she looked up. “I’m sorry, did you say something, Miss Lane?”

“Christmas. Kara. What you got her?”

“Well, I got her a few little things, but her main gift is a ruby and sapphire platinum bracelet. It’s tasteful, but I thought the color scheme would appeal to her. I even had them engrave the House of El symbol on the interior so it would be close to her but not visible to others.”

Lois had been pouring two glasses of wine as she listened, but very nearly dropped the bottle and had to set it to the side quickly. “Uh, Honey, you may want to find a new gift. Pretty sharpish.” 

Brows pressed together, Lena asked, “You don’t think she’ll like it? I’d be happy to show it to you. I promise, it’s not austentatious.”

“No, no no no, she’ll love it,” Lois assured her quickly. “It’s just… Kara really hasn’t told you a lot about Kryptonian culture, has she?”

“Not really. She only actually came out to me a little over a month ago… and came out to me. We haven’t been together all that long, and our lives are both so busy.”

“Then a word to the wise… save the bracelet. Hide it somewhere she won’t find it. And save it until you are absolutely, one hundred percent sure that she is the one for you.”

“I… all right. Should I be worried?”

“Not worried,” Lois smiled, placing a gentle, reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Just… save it. You’ll know when the time is right. That’s all I’m saying.”

With a slow nod, Lena tapped at her phone before holding it to her ear. “Jess, I… Yes, Merry Christmas to you and your family also. I hope you’re enjoying your time at home with family.” Lena paused, nodding. “Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I need to get a gift for Miss Danvers and… Yes, I did buy her a gift, but that is,” she glanced at Lois, “for reasons I can’t go into at this moment, that is no longer appropriate. Jess, I need… No, we did not break up, Jessica. Just listen. I need to get Miss Danvers a different gift and get it to me today.” Lena frowned. “I don’t know, Jessica. You know Kara. Get her something she’d like like a… a… a doughnut shop or something. I don’t care what it is so long as she likes it and you can get it couriered to me in the next five hours, understand?” Lena smiled. “You’re a gem, Jess. I don’t know what I’d do without you, and I hope I never have to find out. Merry Christmas.” Ending the call, she smiled over at Lois. “Better?”

“A doughnut shop?” Lois repeated incredulously. “An actual doughnut shop?” Her face slowly split into the biggest grin Lena had ever seen. “She will love you to the moon and back, for that!” Her head tilted to one side as she pondered. “I wonder how much they are. Do you think I could save up enough to buy Clark one as well? I’ve been trying to save for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season ticket, but that’s more for me than for him…”

“Toronto Maple Leafs? What is that, some kind of sports thing?”

Lois blinked. “You did not just say that.”

Lena raised one eyebrow. “Worse social faux pas than the bracelet?”

“Absolutely!” Lois considered. “Well… no, maybe not. But close. Very close.”

Lena sighed. “This whole day feels like a test in a subject I’ve never taken. I hate failing at things. All I can hear is my mother’s voice picking me apart.”

“Honey, in this test there are no right or wrong answers. If I know Kara half as well as I think I do, she’ll love you no matter what. I’m just offering you a little guidance, from one human to another. A human who’s dating a Kryptonian, that is.”

“So technically, you’re the only person qualified to give me this advice.” Sighing, Lena grabbed an unopened bottle of wine. “Where do you keep your bottle opener? We’ve got some time to kill until our significant others are home, and I could use any advice you’re willing to impart.”

“Usually, I don’t need one. I just holler for Clark, but as he’s not here…” Lois opened a drawer and rooted around at the back of it for a moment, before giving a triumphant little “aha” and pulling out a bottle opener. She passed it to Lena. “So, Kryptonian 101. Where would you like me to start?”

“How about at what not to say, or do, or buy?” Lena looked around the kitchen. “You don’t have an aerator, do you?”

“A what now?” Lois blinked.

“Right, never mind.” Lena held up the bottle. “Let’s just drink.”

“That’s the best idea you’ve had so far, Luthor,” Lois smiled, holding out an empty glass.

…………………………

Hours later, an exhausted Clark and Kara, both covered in grime from digging people out from under ruined buildings, returned. They were both smiling as they walked into the house, but then in unison, both their faces froze as they saw the scene in the living room. Lying on the floor, with her legs on the coffee table, Lois held a mostly empty glass of wine in her hand. Face down on the couch with her head lolling over the end, Lena lay with one finger slowly circling the rim of her glass that sat on the floor. On the table were two empty bottles of wine.

“And then…” Lois raised her empty hand to vaguely gesture, as her voice slurred. “And then I says to him ‘No, your other left’!”

There was a moment of silence, and then Lena broke up laughing as she repeated, “Your other left!”

“Oh, you should have been there, Lenny. It was priceless.”

“Next time I will be, Lo. You and I are making some traveling plans. I own a plane, you know.”

“Hell yes we… yes we are. And yes you do!” Lois let out a loud, very unlady-like burp, then blinked. “Wow. S’cuse you.”

It set off Lena to another round of laughter.

“What the Rao have we walked into?” Clark whispered to Kara as they stood watching, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Did Lois just call Lena ‘Lenny’,” Kara whispered back, “or are my ears still ringing from that building that collapsed on me?”

“I think we may have stumbled into an alternate Earth,” Clark frowned, looking all around. “Or maybe some paradox. Could be - no, it’s not the Phantom Zone. Maybe some kind of hallucinogenic dream state?”

“Well, it’s not a Black Mercy. If it were, you and Lois wouldn’t be here, and Lena and I would be…” Kara cleared her throat. “Anyway, it’s not that. Maybe it’s another Earth. That happens. This one seems nice, though. Do we have to go back to our own Earth?”

Their voices had finally caught Lois’ attention, and she tilted her head back as far as it would go, to look at them upside down. “Oh! Heeeeey guys!”

“Lois Joanne Lane, have you been drinking?” Clark raised an eyebrow, even though the answer was pretty glaringly obvious.

“I swears to drunk I’m not Rao,” Lois replied, hand over her heart - or at least that’s where she was intending. Instead, she swooped her glass of wine, and had Clark not super sped to catch it, it would have ended up all over Lois and the floor beneath her.

“Ohhhh, he middle named you, Lo. Anytime my mother did that, I knew she was disappointed in me.” Lena frowned. “Or any time she spoke to me. That woman needs to get laid. I don’t think she’s had sex since she got pregnant with Lex, and look how that turned out.”

That was it. Lois was off, roaring her head off with laughter. So much that she actually started crying, and could barely catch her breath.

Clark looked from her, to Kara, and shrugged. “What the actual—”

“Fudge!” Lois gasped. “We need fudge!” She raised one leg and tried to nudge Clark with it. “Go… go do your whoosh thingy and get us some fudge, Clarky?”

“Yes, go somewhere they don’t celebrate Christmas, like… Israel! Clark, fly to Israel and get us some fudge, no nuts,” Lena said as she looked up from the couch with a silly grin on her face. 

Lois moved her hand to her lips to take another sip of her wine, not realising that the glass was no longer in her hand after Clark had rescued it from her. Then she looked at her hand and blinked. “Oh my God, I drunk the glass as well!”

Staring at Lois, Lena very seriously said, “Well, passing that is going to hurt like a bitch.”

“I’m doomed,” Lois nodded dramatically as she flopped back down to the floor. There was a moment of silence, and then she said “Dead.”

“Uh, who is, Lo?” Clark frowned.

“Me. I drunked a glass, and now I’m dead.”

“I think you’re being a bit over dramatic.” He looked to Kara, clearly hoping for some form of help.

“Uh, yeah, guys,” Kara said as she stepped closer. “I’m sure everything is going to be fine.”

“Not with my best friend Lo, dead,” Lena said. “You know the only thing that could possibly save this moment… fudge!”

Lois lifted her head again and aimed a kick in Clark’s general direction. “Woman’s got a point. Where’s my fudge? You got it yet?”

“Clark, you can’t deny a dying woman’s last wish,” Lena said.

“Rao give me strength,” Clark rubbed his temple. Then he looked to the two women. “Lois is not dying.”

“Am too!” Lois growled. “I drunked a glass and now I’m dead! Jeez, Smallville, stop being so incon… incons… oh what’s the word?”

“Inconsiderate?” He sighed, but Lois frowned and shook her head. Then she snapped her fingers (after several failed attempts). 

“Inconsistent! Stop being so inconsistent, Clarky!”

“I’ve got an idea,” Kara said to Clark. “I’ll go fly to Israel, or somewhere, and get some fudge. You deal with this mess. Good luck!” Then she flashed out of the house and took off into the night.

“Coward!” Clark called after her as he watched Lois studying her fingers again. “Lois, what are you doing now?”

“My clickers don’t work,” Lois frowned, seriously struggling to focus on her fingers as she tried to snap them, and failed, over and over again. “Clark, I’m dead and my clickers don’t work! Oh my life is over! What do I do now?”

“I think you need a drink, Lo,” Lena said pushing herself to standing and swaying. “I’ll go get us another bottle.”

“Uh, I think you ladies have had enough,” Clark tried to interject as he set the glass on the coffee table and moved to block Lena’s path. He completely failed to notice that Lois had also rolled to her feet and was making a (remarkably straight) beeline for the kitchen. 

“Mr. Kent, would you be so kind as the shift a few feet to the left, my left which is your… right? Right. Would you please shift a few feet to your right? You seem to be in my path.” Lena patted Clark on the chest. “Good Lord. You Supers certainly are all muscley, aren’t you?”

Clark very gently pried Lena’s hand off his chest, only to realise that Lois was now AWOL.

“Help!” She suddenly screamed, from the direction of the kitchen. “Fire!”

Clark wasted no time and was in the kitchen in a flash, already sucking in a deep breath so as to put out the fire that was… in the sink? He gently let out his breath again, then turned on the faucet. “Lois, how in Rao’s name did you… Actually, I don’t even want to know. Are you hurt?”

“How many times have I got to tell you, Smallville? I’m dead!” Lois scowled, hands on her hips. “Of course I’m not alright!”

“Is Lois dead yet?” Lena asked as she veered into the kitchen. “I’ve been working on her eulogy. It’s going to be smashing.”

“Oh, oh, let’s hear it,” Lois hopped lightly up onto the worktop, legs swinging as she very nearly tumbled off the edge without even realising.

“Rao give me strength,” Clark grumbled under his breath. 

“We gather here today to pay our final respects to Lois Joanne Lane: friend, partner, reporter, poor speller, banned from commercial flight, and all around good egg. Though many of us knew her, how many of us truly knew Lois? She was a puzzle wrapped in an enigma surrounded by a conundrum. She was fearless, peerless, sometimes careless, often tasteless, but doubtless the best of us.”

“You forgot reckless!” Lois called out as her legs carried on swinging back and forth.

Lena nodded. “I’ll jot that down in my,” she tapped at her temple with one finger. “Now, where was I?”

“My Yule Loggy.” 

“Oh, Merry Christmas,” Lena said. “Do we have any fudge?”

“Fudge! Where the fudge is the fuck?” Lois looked all around, as if looking for it. 

“Maybe somebody ate it,” Lena suggested.

Lois gasped. “Thieves! Who ate all the pies?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Lena replied. “Who usually eats the pies?”

“That fat bastard,” Lois pointed an accusing finger at Clark. “Except he’s not fat, he’s scrummy. And mine. And while we’re at it, who let the dogs out?”

Turning with an empty wine bottle in each hand, Lena said, “Lo, it’s worse than we thought. Look what else they ate.”

“No! Why is the rum gone?!” Lois jumped down from the counter, stumbled and fell into Clark’s waiting arms. “Whoa, are you okay?”

He didn’t really know what to say to that, so in the end nodded. “Erm yeah, thanks.”

“That was almost a nasty fall you had there,” Lois patted his shoulder, then turned back to Lena. “Right. Rum. Why is the rum gone?”

“Wait, I think I solved it. I know who ate the pie and drank the rum,” Lena paused as she stared at Lois, “Pie rates! We need to call the Coast Guard. This is a naval issue.”

“Pie rates? Pie rates?... Pie… rates? Oh! Oh that’s it! Pie rates! Lenny Luthor Thingy Person, you’re a genie! You solved it! You cracked it!” She turned to Clark, a proud, triumphant smile on her face, as she pointed to Lena. “She solved it.”

As Clark stood with his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out, Kara’s voice came from the living room. “I’m back, and I’ve got the… Hey, where did everyone go?” After a pause, she pushed the door to the kitchen open and entered with a bag in one hand and a piece of fudge, which she quickly popped into her mouth, in her other hand. “There you guys are. Lois was right about the fudge. This hits the spot.”

“See,” Lois beamed. “I might be dead, but I’m right!”

“Why does the kitchen smell like smoke?” Kara asked as she dug a box of fudge out and offered it up.

“Don’t ask,” Clark groaned as Lois eagerly took the fudge and pulled the box open. Then she paused.

“Hey Kara, we need the um, the sea people with guns and ships and stuff. The color blue people. The cobalts? No, the cyans? No, wait that’s not it… what other colors of blue are there?”

“Indigo is the color of denim and the sixth color of the rainbow,” Lena suggested.

“No, that’s not it,” Lois was frowning. “Oh, it’s right there. On the tip of my… my… um…” She poked her tongue out and pointed to it. “This thing.”

“It’s not blue,” Lena said. “Can I have some fudge?”

“What color is it?” Lois frowned, then she stuck her tongue out as far as it would go and tried to peer down at it, going cross eyed in the process.

“It’s a light pink. It looks healthy considering you’re dying.”

“She’s still dying?” Kara asked.

“I’m not dying!” Lois scowled, pulling her tongue back in. “I’m dead. Past tent. Former. No more. I have ceased to exist.”

“I wish I would,” Clark grumbled.

“Okay,” Kara clapped her hands together. “I think we should have some coffee with our fudge, lots and lots of coffee. Who wants some coffee? Lena, Lois, great! I’ll make coffee.”

“You talk a lot,” Lois frowned. Then she sat herself down cross-legged in the middle of the kitchen floor. “Oh! Hey. What’s a pirate’s favorite letter?”

“I don’t know,” Lena replied quite seriously. “I’ve never met any pirates.”

Clark groaned because he knew exactly what the answer was that Lois had been expecting, and she would no doubt kick up a fuss until someone said it. But did he have the strength to endure it? He’d, at that very moment in time, rather spend forty years in the Phantom Zone with a lump of kryptonite strapped to each hand.

Lois pointed to Kara. “Pirate’s favourite letter?”

“Well, E is the most common letter in the English language. Is it E?”

Lois frowned. “What are you? Some kind of idiot?” She then pointed to Clark. “Same question. Pirate’s favourite letter?”

“Aaaargh,” he growled, rolling his eyes.

“No,” Lois beamed. “‘Tis the Sea!”

Laughing explosively, Lena doubled over on the counter for several moments before she pushed away from it and wiped at a tear. “Oh God, that was hysterical. Okay, okay, I have a joke. Did you hear how the date went between Oxygen and Potassium?”

“Nope,” Lois shook her head. “How did it go?”

“It went,” Lena snickered, “OK.”

Clark sniggered at that before he could stop himself, but Lois frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“OK,” Lena repeated. “Oxygen and Potassium… O… K. Get it?”

“Oh!!!” Lois nodded, as she burst out laughing too. “Oh! Yeah! Yeah, I don’t get it!” And she slapped a hand to her side as she burst out laughing again, in hysterical stitches.

“Okay, two cups of coffee,” Kara said holding a mug out to Lois and Lena. “Clark, you might want to check over your french press. In my hurry, I might have damaged it a little bit.”

“Right now, that’s the least of my concerns,” Clark sighed.

“That makes me think of another joke,” Lena said. “How do reporters in Toulouse make their coffee?”

Lois shrugged as she sipped from the mug that Kara had just given her (with great encouragement from Clark).

“A french press,” Lena explained with a smile.

“Thank you, Lena Luthor,” Clark mopped at his sopping face with his cape as he was now wearing coffee that had sprayed from his fiance’s mouth. “Can we maybe give the stand up a rest for now?”

“Who’s standing?” Lois frowned after she’d composed herself. “I’m sitting.”

“Good plan, Lo,” Lena said as she leaned against the counter and slid toward the floor, only not spilling her coffee because Kara appeared and held it steady. “Kara, darling, come and sit with me. I’ve missed you today. Tell me all about your day.”

“Dude, sit,” Lois agreed, grabbing Clark by the collar and tugging him down into the middle of the kitchen floor with her. “What she said.”

“Um, okay.” Kara took a seat next to Lena on the floor, smiling when Lena laid her head on Kara’s shoulder. “Well, there was a lot of damaged structures, and Clark and I were able to hear the cries for help and even just heartbeats from those trapped within. I lost count of the number of people we pulled from under debris. Clark?”

“Twelve hundred and four who were trapped beneath buildings, another four hundred and three from inside buildings.”

“Are you counting me in that number? A building collapsed on me, and Clark helped me to dig myself out. It really rang my bell.” Kara patted the side of her head with one hand.

“I’d like to ring Clark’s bell,” Lois muttered, thinking she was being quiet, but actually, she was speaking at a normal volume.

Reaching up and slapping her free hand to Kara’s cheek, Lena smiled as she looked into Kara’s eyes. “Do you think that’s code for something because you know what I’d like to be doing with you right now?”

“All right! I think it’s bedtime, don’t you, Clark?” Kara announced.

“Help me up,” Lois held out a hand to Clark. “I need to pee.”

“Not in here you’re not.”

“Of course not, dummy!” Lois scrambled awkwardly and inelegantly to her feet, after Clark had relieved her of her coffee mug, and then headed off to find the bathroom. 

Sipping her coffee as she snuggled into Kara, Lena said, “Thank you for inviting me, Kara. I had a lovely evening with Lois. She’s so much nicer than everyone, and I do mean everyone, says she is. However, I think she got a tad bit tipsy tonight, don’t you?”

“Lois got tipsy?” Kara asked incredulously. “You know what they say about the pot and the kettle and black, right?”

“FIRE!” Lois’s voice rang out through the house suddenly. “FIRE IN THE BATHROOM!”

“Is that for real?” Kara asked.

“Unfortunately,” Clark sighed, before speeding off to go and find out what the hell Lois had done now.

……………………….

Several hours later, Clark had changed back into his civilian clothing and was standing in the hayloft of the barn, leaning on the night-chilled railing and gazing out across the rows and rows of cornfields for as far as the eye could see. It was dark, but a distant glow was just appearing on the horizon - the first signs of a new day approaching.

“Hey, cuz,” Kara said as she floated up to the loft, a cup of cocoa in each hand. She handed one over to Clark.”I found the mini-marshmallows. Some of them even made it into the cocoa.”

“Don’t tell Lois you found them,” Clark chuckled as he accepted the drink. “She’d fight Doomsday himself just to get her hands on some. I kind of told her we’d run out.”

Kara raised her eyebrows in obvious surprise. “Clark Kent fibbing? It is a Christmas miracle.”

“Says the woman who lives two lives and reports on her own activities as the Girl of Steel.”

Kara shrugged. “Hey, at least I know what I’m reporting is accurate. I can trust my source.” She took another sip of her cocoa. “I’d forgotten how pretty it is up here. Thanks for inviting us.”

“A pleasure as always, cousin,” Clark nodded as he sipped his own cocoa. “Besides, it gave Lois and me a chance to meet Lena. The real Lena, I mean. Not the boardroom business-suit wearing L-Corp CEO.”

”Yeah, that only went about half as disastrous as I thought it would. Only two fires.” She raised her mug to Clark. “That deserves a toast.”

Clark laughed and clinked his mug lightly against hers. “I agree, things could have been a whole lot worse. Two fires, two drunk humans and only a minor disagreement in the driveway. Probably one of the best Christmases we’ve had yet, huh?”

“Sad but true. If the girls hadn’t cooked the turkey until it looked like some kind of mummified husk, this Christmas would have been pretty much perfect. Maybe next year, no wine until dinner… I mean, if you want to do this again next year.”

“If you think I’m going to try and stop Lois from making this an annual thing now, you’re sorely mistaken,” Clark smirked. “And to be fair to the girls, they didn’t know how long we’d be. Though I do wonder at what point they actually forgot about it, and whether it would have been salvageable if they hadn’t. I was looking forward to turkey for dinner.”

“Yeah, me too. Thank goodness for fudge.” Kara sipped her cocoa again. “Hey, when she wakes up, you don’t think Lois will remember there was fudge, do you?”

“I’m sure Lois isn’t going to be remembering a lot of what happened yesterday,” Clark shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “She had wine. A lot of wine. Wine and Lois Lane do not mix well.”

“Ah, I’m not sure if that’s good or not, but not having to fly around the world for fudge again sounds good to me. Hey, do you two plan to have kids?”

Clark raised his eyebrows at his cousin. “Bit of a personal question there, don’t you think?” His smile betrayed the fact that he didn’t actually mind her asking, however, and was only teasing her.

“I just mean, if that was one night of drunk Lois and a craving, what is nine months of that going to look like for you?”

Clark blinked, and the colour drained from his face. “I… hadn’t thought of that…”

“Oh.” Taking another sip, Kara flashed a smile at him. “Just forget I said anything. I’m sure it will be fine.”

“You spend a day with Lois, then tell me the same after that,” Clark chuckled and shook his head. “What am I saying? I love my human. Of course it will be fine. We’ll make it work. We always do. Lois and me? We’re a team.”

“Good for you. You know, you and Lois are kind of an inspiration to me. I don’t know that I’d have been able to tell Lena the truth without seeing how it could work out, so thank you.”

Clark flashed her one of his toothy grins. “You’re an inspiration as well, you know? Look at you, you’re the Girl of Steel, you’ve saved hundreds of thousands of lives. And you had the courage to come out to Lena. A Luthor, of all people.”

“I… guess? You know, it was never about Lena being a Luthor for me. Maybe when I first met her, just a little bit, but she became so important to me so quickly.” Kara bumped her face with her hand as she awkwardly tried to push up glasses she wasn’t wearing. “I was worried that if I told her the truth, let her see all of me, she wouldn’t want me, and I couldn’t imagine losing her friendship. You and Lois though, you’re best friends and so much more. I wanted that. I wanted that with Lena.”

“Things weren’t always so clear cut, black and white with Lois and I at the start either,” Clark shrugged. “You do remember that she didn’t look at Clark Kent as anything more than a bumbling buffoon for the first year or so of our working relationship? Then when I finally got through to her as both Clark AND Superman… I was just as worried as you. I thought she’d hate me, for the deception. For so long she loved Superman but despised Clark Kent.” He also went to push up non-existent glasses. “Well, despised is perhaps too strong a word, but you catch my meaning.”

“I get it. Lena and I were kind of the opposite. She and Kara were best friends, more than best friends if we were being honest with each other about it, but Lena and Supergirl…” Kara looked up and blew out a breath. “Things started fine there, but they went south pretty quickly. Part of it was me, and part of it was her, but all of it was forgetting the trust we’d both earned and failing to communicate. I could feel her slipping away from Supergirl, and I was so scared I’d lose her as Kara too. As awful as that time was, it was kind of a wakeup call. Feeling myself losing Lena in even part of my life, well, I knew I’d do whatever had to be done to keep her with me. In this case, it meant telling the truth.”

“Sometimes honesty really is the best policy,” Clark agreed. “Certainly between Lois and me, it was. Sounds like it was for you and Lena too. So, you really like her, huh?”

“Clark, I…” Kara paused, taking a long gulp from her cocoa before speaking again. She stared down into the cup. “She’s the one, Clark. I love her.” Lifting her head, she met Clark’s gaze and smiled. “I love her.”

Clark smiled right back at her, and placed his free hand over hers as she held her mug. “Then you make sure you tell her that. Every day if you have to. Though if she really is the genius she seems to be, she’ll already know, and just a look will be enough. All I have to do is look at Lois now, and I know.”

“Words are easy, well, for some people. Sometimes it takes action, a gesture, to give them meaning.”

“I know what you mean,” Clark nodded, gazing back out to the rising sun again. “It took me forever to pluck up the courage to tell Lois how I felt about her. In the end, I took her flying at sunset. No words needed. Just her, me and the most gorgeous sunset I’ve ever seen.”

“Lena doesn’t like flying.” Kara shook her head and looked over at the horizon again. “I’ll think of something though. We haven’t been together that long, though, and this feels fast, doesn’t it?”

“Does love have a timeline?” Clark asked, raising an eyebrow. “A set guideline of how long it’s supposed to take for two people to fall in love?”

“I guess not. I felt something the first time we met, the way she walked into her office and just owned her space. Right away there was an attraction, and things grew and shifted from there.” Kara tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know if her family trying to kill me, and her sometimes, made things harder or just made us more determined to live our lives the way we wanted. The General isn’t a big fan of yours, is he?”

“Oh, he can’t stand me,” Clark smiled proudly. “Yet Lois has the guts to stand up to him every single time. She defends me time and time again, and I’m sure the same could be said of Lena and you?”

“She had her mother arrested to save the lives of aliens she’d never met. She’s fearless.” Kara sighed. “Sometimes I think that’s not a good thing. A healthy dose of caution can keep a human alive when… Wait, who am I talking to? You live with Lois Lane.”

“You got off lightly with your human,” Clark let out a hearty laugh, setting his empty mug to one side.

“Yeah, she doesn’t usually go running down alleys to hunt down trouble. She’s more likely to draw the trouble to her because of her expertise in certain areas.” Kara took a sip of the cocoa, pouting into the bottom of the cup as it was seemingly, suddenly empty. “Hey, Clark, have you ever thought about taking Lois and just going somewhere far, far away? You know, someplace where no one knows either of you, and you can just be safe?”

“All the time,” Clark nodded, serious with his answer. “So often, after I’ve saved Lois from yet another disaster or danger, or I’ve saved yet another city from devastation and come home to her, exhausted and weary, I’ve been so tempted to tell her that we should do exactly that.” He rubbed at the back of his neck again. “But it’s Lois. She’d never let me hang up my cape, for a start. She’d insist that too many people need us. Hell, the world needs us. Plus,” he smirked. “You cannot have Lois Lane without Trouble. One is never found without the other.”

“That’s kind of what I figured. Lena’s too invested in righting the legacy of her family to ever be selfish like that either. Sometimes selfless feels like too much. Sometimes it feels like I can do the right thing or be happy, and that can be a hard choice to make. I guess it’s important to have a partner that wants to do the right thing. When things get too heavy even for us, we have people to help us shoulder the burden.”

“Right,” Clark nodded. “But at the same time, Kara, it doesn’t have to be a choice. You can do the right thing  **and** be happy, you know? You just have to find that balance, and that’s what takes practice. But if you’re lucky enough to find someone who’s willing to help you with that, it can make it a whole lot easier to bare. Lois is that someone to me. And it sounds like Lena is—” He paused, and his head tilted slightly to one side. “Who sets an alarm for this hour?!”

Kara sighed. “It could be Lena. She really needs to learn the meaning of the word vacation.”

“I’ll go see.” Clark took Kara’s empty mug. “Refill?”

“Always,” Kara replied with a smile.

“Be right back.” And in the blink of an eye, he was gone, only to come to a halt in the kitchen, seeing a rather bemused Lena wandering in.

“Good morning, Miss Luthor,” he smiled brightly as he set about making some more cocoa.

“Is there coffee?” she asked peering at him from between slitted eyes.

“Coming right up,” he nodded, pulling another mug down from the cupboard. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had better mornings, but I’ve also had much worse. I don’t remember you and Kara coming in last night.” 

“That’s probably a good thing,” he chuckled, pouring the drinks into the two mugs, giving them both a quick blast with his heat vision to warm them, then passing both to Lena. “Kara’s in the barn if you were looking for her.”

“Thank you,” Lena said, “for the coffee and the tip. And thank you for having me in your home. I had a lovely evening… what I can remember of it at least.”

“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Lena. You’re more than welcome to come and visit us any time.”

With a smile and a nod, she headed out of the house and toward the barn. “Kara?” Lena said as she looked around the barn’s interior.

“Up here, sweetie.” Kara stepped off the edge of the loft, gliding to the floor. She wrapped her arms around Lena and kissed Lena on the cheek. “How did you sleep?”

Arms with mugs to the side, Lena leaned into Kara’s embrace. “Very well, I think. How was your evening?”

Kara chuckled, rising back up to the loft with Lena in her arms. She stepped back after they landed. “My night before or after Clark and I came home?”

“Ugh.” Lena handed over the mug of cocoa to Kara. “How bad was it when you got home? I have vague recollections of opening that third bottle of wine, but after that…” Lena wiggled one hand in front of herself.

“You remember bonding with Lo?”

“Lo? Do you mean Lois?”
    
    
      
    
      
    
    

“That’s not what you call her,” Kara said over the lip of her mug, a smile on her face. “You and she had become BFFs by the time Clark and I got home.”

“BFFs?” Lena grimaced. “I didn’t actually use that term, did I?”

“Oh, you did. It was right before you made me fly to another continent for fudge.”

“Oh, good Lord. Note to self, don’t go drinking with Lois Lane. No good can come of it.”

“I don’t know about no good. You and Lois managed to bury the hatchet, and not in anyone’s skull, last night. You remember that, right?”

Lena nodded. “I remember us talking and actually laughing about Lex. I don’t often meet anyone who remembers anything good about him. We talked about Krypton a bit, though that’s fuzzy, and I remember…” Lena pulled her cellphone out of her pocket, quickly checking her emails. “Why would I buy season tickets to the Toronto Maple Leafs?” She looked up. “Kara, what are the Toronto Maple Leafs?”

“A hockey team.”

“Oh.” Lena shrugged and stuck the phone back into her pocket. “I suppose it could have been worse. I could have bought the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Kara laughed but quickly, her eyes widened. “Oh, you’re serious.”

“There are worse things than drunk texting.”

“Drunk billionaires on shopping sprees?” Lena only smiled in reply, and the two of them fell into silence. They stood there for several minutes, Kara’s arm wrapped around Lena’s shoulder as they watched the sun rise over the horizon. “Are you happy?”

“What?”

“Are you happy?” Kara repeated. 

“Well, my head hurts a bit, and I woke up with quite the cotton mouth, but the view is nice.”

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Kara said as she kissed the top of Lena’s head. “What I mean though is are you happy with your life, with our life?”

“Kara,” Lena stepped back and looked up into Kara’s eyes, “I don’t remember ever being happier than I am in this moment with you. Well, maybe the first time you kissed me,” she added with a mischievous smile.

“Then maybe this will help.” Pulling Lena against her body, Kara kissed her. 

“Mmmm,” Lena said as the kiss ended. “Well, now this moment is perfect. I’m in your arms watching the sunrise. I even have coffee.”

“That’s all it takes to make your perfect day?”

“Well,” Lena pulled her phone out of her pocket, pushing a few buttons before smiling. “My stock prices are up two points. There, now the day is perfect.”

“Right,” Kara said with a laugh, “because it’s the little things.”

Snuggling into Kara again, Lena said, “It is the little things. Without these little moments, the big ones wouldn’t matter. You mean the world to me, you know.”

“Yeah, same. You know, Lena…” Head cocked to the side, Kara grimaced. “Uh-oh.”

“What uh-oh?”

“It sounds like Krypto woke Lois, and she definitely sounds rougher than you.”

“That woman likes her wine.”

“Yeah, better than the wine likes her, apparently. It sounds like Clark is trying to get Krypto out of the way.”

“Is Lois all right?”

“She’s in the um, bathroom. Let’s hope she doesn’t set it on fire again.”

Lena brows rose sharply. “She’s set the bathroom on fire? Was it a candle incident?”

“It was a Lois incident. That woman could incinerate water. There’s a reason both her boyfriend and her dog are invulnerable.”

Meanwhile outside the bathroom in the Kent house, Clark was leaning against the wall, rubbing Krypto’s ear affectionately. 

“Lois? Are you alright?”

There was a long pause and then, “Yep. Fine.”

Clark raised an eyebrow and glanced at the door. “You sure? Because I don’t call hugging the toilet ‘fine’.”

“Stop X-raying me, Smallville, and let me puke in peace!”

He chuckled softly and moved his hand to rub Krypto’s head instead as the dog sat patiently by his side, loving all the attention.

“So, how much of last night do you remember?” He asked conversationally.

Again there was a long pause, the sound of the toilet flushing, running water and then the bathroom door opened and Lois appeared, looking pale and bedraggled. “How much do I want to remember?”

Catching Clark peering past her into the bathroom, she turned to look as well, in confusion. “What?”

“Just checking,” he replied, nodding as if he was now satisfied, then closing the door behind her. 

“So go on then,” Lois groaned, trudging back to the bedroom. “What’s the damage report?”

“Oh, where to start,” Clark smirked as he leaned in the doorway. Lois let out another long, loud groan and flopped face first onto the bed, starfished across it with her arms and legs splayed. Krypto let out a joyful bark and leapt up beside her, where he proceeded to lick her ear.

“Get lost, dog!” Lois complained, swatting at him several times. “I’m dying here.”

“Funny, you were doing that last night as well,” Clark chuckled. “Well, actually you were convinced you were dead, so at least you’re only dying now, not actually dead. That’s a step in the right direction.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Lois scowled, raising her head painfully.

“You were convinced you were dead,” Clark shrugged, as if this answered her question. “Lena read you the eulogy she’d written for you, and everything. Oh, by the way, you two are best buddies for life now. You bonded over wine and very poor jokes.”

Lois let out a half whimper, half sob and buried her head back into the duvet again. “I hate poor jokes,” her muffled voice floated out into the room a few moments later. “They’re the worst kind!”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Lo. Could have happened to anyone. After three bottles of wine on an empty stomach, that is. Not to mention the bottle you consumed before Lena and Kara’s timely arrival.” Clark patted his thigh and Krypto bounded over to him, licking his hand. “Tell you what, why don’t I make you some breakfast? Scrambled eggs sound good?”

He waited for the reaction, there was a momentary pause and then Lois flew up off the bed and ran for the bathroom again, her hand over her mouth as she gagged. His laughter drowned out the sounds of her puking as he headed back downstairs to go and find her some aspirin and plenty of water.  
  



	2. Santa Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year later, Kara and Lena are at the Kent Farm with Lois and Clark again, but this time they're all more like family. Martha and Eliza will be present to share presents, and a few others will drop in the share the holiday cheer and a few surprises along the way. It's a Clois and SuperCorp Christmas.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Smallville?” Lois Lane-Kent huffed for what seemed to Clark to be the millionth time that very morning, alone.

“Lois,” he took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him, ignoring the fact that she’d been scrubbing frantically at the kitchen counter with a sponge, so forcefully in fact that the sponge had started to fall apart and little chunks were flying everywhere. Ignoring the soap suds and pieces of sponge currently dripping onto his socks as he held his wife at arm’s length, he smiled. “I think that counter is clean enough.”

“Have you been listening to a word I’ve been saying, Clark?!” Lois snapped, forcefully turning herself back to the counter top to carry on attacking the sparkling surface with the remnants of sponge again, clearly using it as a source to vent her frustration on.

“Unfortunately, it’s been impossible not to,” Clark muttered with a sigh of his own as he ventured over to the fridge, opened it and peered inside, wishing - and not for the first time - that he could feel the effects of the incredibly inviting beers that were neatly arranged within. Along with an entire supermarket’s worth of groceries.

“What was that?!” Lois shot him the dirtiest look he had ever seen from the reporter and he held his hands up quickly in a gesture of self defence.

“I said ‘Yes Dear’.”

Lois scowled at him for a few moments longer, then wagged the soapy, mostly destroyed sponge in his direction. “Hands off the food!”

“Absolutely not touching the food,” Clark replied, showing her his empty hands, front and back. As soon as she turned back to the counter, he flashed out an arm, using his super speed to snag a handful of cooked chicken bits and a couple of cocktail sausages.

“Clark Joseph Kent, I saw that!” Lois called over her shoulder as he went off into the living room to find some festive music to play.

As _Winter Wonderland_ started to play through the surround sound system, Clark wandered back into the kitchen, having also demolished any trace of food evidence before daring to show himself in Lois’ presence again.

“Lois,” he sighed, seeing that she’d finished brutalising one countertop and had now moved on to the other. “Honey, could you please relax? It’s just Kara and Lena. You know Kara and Lena. You love Kara and Lena.”

“They’re not the problem,” Lois growled. “Though I do worry that we may not have enough food. I should go out and get some more.”

“There’s enough food,” Clark reassured her gently, placing his strong hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him once more. She tried to resist, but was no match for his strength, so quickly gave in. “Hey,” he offered her a bright smile, and he could see that she was desperately fighting a smile of her own.

“Hi,” she grumbled at last, looking away though her resolve was fading rapidly.

“Lo, talk to me,” he spoke to her gently now, releasing his grip on her shoulders but not letting go completely. “What’s wrong? What’s got you so worked up?”

Lois sighed and set the sponge to one side at last, reluctantly. “It’s just… well, Lena… Lena she… the thing is… Lena’s… well Lena’s Lena for a start. Obviously. But she’s also… well. Lena.”

“Lena’s Lena but also Lena?” Clark’s brows dipped in confusion. “Lo, honey, are you sure you’re alright? Do you need me to call Alex, maybe?”

“Huh, so about that,” Lois squeaked as the doorbell rang suddenly, and all but leaped out of Clark’s arms. “Lena’s here! Clark, Lena’s here! She’s here and she’s Lena!”

“Right, Lena’s here,” Clark nodded, still confused by his wife’s almost frantic nervousness, the reasons for which he still was none the wiser. “With Kara. I’ll go and let them in.”

With one final backwards glance at Lois, who had picked up the sponge again and was once more attacking the counter, he went to the door and opened it to find his cousin and her girlfriend standing on the porch together, hand in hand.

“You guys arrived just in time,” he beamed, stepping back to let them in. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, baby cousin,” Kara said as she unloaded a pile of presents and engulfed Clark in a hug that would have literally been bone crushing to a human.

“Clark.” Lena nodded. “Why are we here just in time? Is everything alright?”

“Lois is having a bit of a panic in the kitchen,” Clark replied, stepping back from Kara after a moment and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “She keeps telling me that Lena is Lena. I think maybe it’s hormones? But I don’t really know.”

“Probably the lack of alcohol,” Lena said as she breezed past Clark, laying a gentle hand on his upper arm as she passed. She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, smiling at the nervous looking brunette with the remains of a strangled sponge in her hand. “Lois, is everything alright?”

“Lenny!” Lois squeaked, dropping the sponge on the floor in her haste to get to the other woman and throw her arms around her. “Thank fuck you’re here! Do you know how many times I’ve nearly blurted it out to Clark? It’s been torture!”

Lena grunted and squeaked as she swatted frantically at Lois’ back, her hands practically a blur in her panic.

“Seriously!” Lois carried on, oblivious. “What the hell took you so long! I’ve been going full on nuclear meltdown and couldn’t even tell Clark why!”

“Lois, put the poor CEO down,” Clark sighed as he walked into the kitchen and pried his wife’s hands away from Lena gently but firmly.

Lena hit the ground with a thud, her expensive heels landing solidly, and then she took in a deep breath of desperately missed air. “Oh, thank God.” Bent over slightly, she reached out and grabbed Clark’s forearm to steady herself. “She’s getting stronger, isn’t she?”

“She actually is,” Clark agreed. “When she hugs me now, it’s starting to hurt, which is saying something.”

“Don’t be such a big baby, Smallville,” Lois scowled. “And go away so I can talk to my human friend in peace.” She made a shooing motion with both hands.

“Where’s the wine?” Lena asked and began to look through cabinets. “I think I need a drink.”

“There’s the General’s scotch if you wanted something stronger?” Clark smirked as he walked past, and this time it was his turn to pat Lena gently on the shoulder.

“Perfect.” Lena grabbed a tumbler from a cabinet and the bottle from where it was kept, pouring herself three fingers. “Drinking for two is quite the responsibility, you know.”

“And it’s very much appreciated,” Lois nodded as she picked up her mug of green tea, took a sip, realised it was stone cold and set it back down again in disgust.

As she sipped the scotch and it ran down causing a pleasant burning from her throat to stomach, Lena relaxed visibly. “Besides the anxiety of keeping my Christmas gift a secret, how are you feeling?”

“Sick,” Lois replied as she leaned against the counter she’d been frantically scrubbing just a few minutes earlier. Then she picked up her mug of tea again. “Why is it called morning sickness? It’s not limited to just mornings, you know.” She sipped the tea, then scowled. “For the love of God, take this thing away from me!”

Lena reached out, gently taking the offered mug from Lois’ hands and placing it on the counter. “Are you sure that’s all it is? Even for you, and I say this with all of the considerable love I have in my heart for you, you’re cranky.”

“I… it’s just… well… you’re going to, you know. And I’m… you know. And today is when… you know. And… well, you know, right?”

“Is babbling like a Kryptonian one of the changes? God, I hope that one isn’t permanent. I’m glad I can’t have a surprise pregnancy.”

Lois frowned. “Why not?”

“Why am I glad, or why can’t I have surprise pregnancy? I would think the latter is rather obvious.”

Lois considered for a moment, a look of severe concentration on her face, before slowly realisation dawned. “Oh! Right, yep, I’m with you now. You’ve got your company to deal with. Can’t have any surprises getting in the way of that. Makes sense.”

“I don’t mean I wouldn’t want to have a family with Kara… obviously. It’s just, as you’ve said, I already have a lot of responsibilities. The fewer DNA altering surprises in my life the better.”

“So you’re saying if you two could have kids and it wasn’t a surprise, you’d want to?”

“You’re relentless.” Stepping forward, she rested a gentle hand on Lois’ abdomen and smiled up at her friend. “I’m happy for you and Clark.”

“Thanks,” Lois managed a genuine smile this time as she rested a hand over the top of Lena’s.

“So, what does Alex say?”

“A lot of stuff. Usually complaining that I talk too much,” Lois shrugged.

“You know, I would have been there for your last ultrasound if you’d told me you’d be in town. I can always make room in my schedule for you, Lo.”

“I know,” Lois nodded and bit her lip, her good mood vanishing in an instant as her lip started to quiver. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

“Hey, hey,” Lena put down her scotch and gently rubbed both of Lois’ upper arms, “that wasn’t an admonishment. This doesn’t feel like it’s just the morning sickness. Is everything alright with Clark?”

“Clark’s fine,” Lois nodded, still biting her lip. “More than fine, in fact. He’s been great. It’s just… well, you know?”

“I’m afraid I don’t. I don’t know much about parenting. I’ve never been one, and I didn’t have much of an example. Is there any way that I can help?”

Lois took a few deep breaths as she tried to think of her reply, before finally she picked up what she thought was the mug from the countertop. “It’s just, today was meant to be,” she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “ _the reveal_. But with your… you know, I kind of didn’t want to steal your thunder. But today is a special day, and we wanted it to be on a special day, and now I don’t know what to do because it’s a special day for you as well, and I can’t ask you to ruin your surprise because that’s totally not fair of me but if we wait until tomorrow then it’s not a special day for us either and—” she gasped, taking in a deep breath, then raised the tumbler to her lips without even realising.

“Lois, don’t—” Lena said too late to stop Lois from taking a gulp of scotch.

Lois froze, slowly turning her eyes down to the glass in her hand, even as the liquid burned her throat, completely at odds with the chilling sensation that rose up her spine. “Fuuuuuuck,” she muttered quietly. Then she glanced back to Lena, panicked once more. “What do I do? What do I do? Help me! What do I do?!”

“It’s okay,” Lena said gently taking the glass from Lois before it was accidentally crushed in a panic. “One little sip isn’t going to hurt the baby. It’s fine.”

“You’re sure?” Lois asked, though already she’d calmed considerably, not just at Lena’s words, but at her tone as well. It was reassuring. Just what Lois needed, right then. She took another deep breath then nodded. “You’re right. Sorry. I’m just… well… you know?”

“Lois, you’re doing an amazing job of taking care of your little one. The biggest concern is stress. You’re putting yourself under too much stress.”

“Those articles don’t write themselves,” Lois managed a weak smile. Then she looked sheepishly at the glass tumbler. “Do… uh… do you want a refill? Seems like someone drunk yours.”

“Seems like it,” Lena agreed as she grabbed the bottle and refilled her glass. “So the last ultrasound went well?”

Lois picked up her mug of green tea, emptied it down the sink, swirled some water in it then set it on the side to wash it up properly later, before she took down a fresh glass from the cupboard and filled it with cold water from a pitcher in the fridge. “As well as could be expected,” she beamed in delight, a light twinkle in her eye.

“Oh, you just love knowing something other people don’t know.” Lena knocked back a gulp of scotch, enjoying the burn as it made its way down her throat to warm her belly, and smiled. “I know the feeling.”

“I know, right? It’s a pretty great feeling. Unless you very nearly almost blurt it out a million times a day by mistake. Then it’s not so good.”

“That’s the rub. You find yourself in the place, torn between wanting to keep your little kernel of knowledge all for yourself and wanting to tell someone so you can lord it over them. Only, once you tell them, now you’re not the only one who knows it.” Lena held up her glass in a toast. “That’s why we need conspirators who will keep our secret. It’s the best of both worlds.”

“And who better to conspire with against the Supers than a Lane and a Luthor, huh?” Lois held her glass of water out and clinked it lightly against Lena’s. “The partnership no one ever saw coming.”

“Ahem.” Kara stood sheepishly at the entrance to the kitchen, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two women. “You two are making us nervous in here, and when Kryptonians get nervous, they eat. Lois, I thought you’d like to know that your gingerbread house is in danger.”

“CLARK JOSEPH KENT, DO NOT TOUCH THAT HOUSE!” Lois stormed from the room without a backwards glance. A moment later there were muffled voices, that grew steadily louder and louder - at least in Lois’ case. “In what Universe does ‘do not touch’ ever translate to help yourself?! What did I say before Lena and Kara got here? What did I say Clark?!”

“She certainly can project.”

Kara winced, her eyes squinted perhaps in a poor attempt to protect her hearing. “You should try it with super-human hearing. So much for being invulnerable.”

“Oh, my poor darling.” Leaving her glass on the counter, Lena gently cradled Kara’s face between her hands and leaned forward as she turned Kara’s head first one way and then the other, placing a soft kiss on the shell of each ear. “Is that any better?”

“Actually, now that you mention it, my lip kind of hurts too.”

That was met with a broad smile which was quickly pressed against Kara’s waiting lips. The kiss grew as they embraced, lost for a moment in the familiar feel and warmth of the other’s body and completely unaware of the world around them.

“Ugh, get a room,” Lois groaned as she walked back into the kitchen with the pitiful remains of what once used to be a gingerbread house, but was now little more than crumbs, a random door and a few sweets on a plate. “Or… actually no, just get a room.”

“Lois, I really am sorry,” Clark followed her into the kitchen. “I misunderstood.”

“Which part of ‘do not eat’ can be misunderstood, Smallville?! I would have thought it was all pretty self explanatory!” She stormed back out of the kitchen again, with Clark trailing behind her, grovelling and begging her forgiveness.

“Hey, guys, it’s Christmas, and we’re with family,” Kara said with an arm still wrapped around Lena. “Let’s not fight.”

“Yes, make love not war,” Lena whispered as she burrowed her face into Kara’s hair.

“I heard that, Luthor!” Lois’ voice called back from the other room. Though unlike her raised tone with Clark, which was furious, her raised tone with Lena was playful. “Like I said, get a room!”

“I’m fairly certain this qualifies as a room, and we haven’t gotten it yet.”

“Lena,” Kara whispered back, though she smiled and press another kiss to Lena’s lips.

As Lois walked back in again with a handful of crumbs that she’d gathered, and no Clark following her this time, she cleared her throat lightly. “Clark’s gone to the barn to get the sleigh ready, if you guys are interested?”

“A sleigh ride?” Lena looked over at Kara before meeting Lois’ gaze with raised eyebrows. “That sounds romantic and like a nice family outing. I’ll get my coat. Kara, do you want yours?”

“Nah, if we’re just staying on the property, no one will see us.”

“Then I’ll be right back.” She gave Lois a conspiratorial smile as she exited the kitchen.

“Soooooo,” Kara began as soon as Lena seemed to be out of earshot, “what were you two talking about earlier?”

“Oh, just how we were going to beat you both at Monopoly, thrash you both at Clue then traumatise you all with Cards Against Humanity,” Lois shrugged, acting casual.

“Rao, maybe take it easy on us as a Christmas present? Lena’s scary when she plays Monopoly. It actually gives me sympathy for her board of directors. I think capitalism is her religion.”

“I just cheat,” Lois shrugged as she patted Kara lightly on the shoulder then left to find her own coat and snow boots.

“Hahaha… Wait, are you serious? Lois?” As Kara followed into the living room, she was met by Lena, now dressed in coat and boots. “You don’t cheat at Monopoly, do you?”

“Certainly not, unless you call being smarter and better than everyone else cheating because I have been accused of having an unfair advantage. I can hardly be held accountable for my birth and natural talents.”

“Oh, Rao. You have such an ego on you sometimes. Tell me again why I love you?”

“Darling,” Lena said as she slid her hands up and over Kara’s shoulders, taking a moment to enjoy the well-defined muscles that stood out tautly, “my ego is because you love me. I’m the luckiest woman on the planet.”

“Second luckiest,” Kara said and scooped Lena up, holding her close and planting little kisses all over her face while Lena giggled.

There was a rattling noise from near the tree, and Lena’s giggles turned into a sigh. “She’s shaking the gifts, isn’t she?”

“Yup,” Kara replied, the P popping. “You knew she would.”

“At least she’s consistent.” Lena sighed again and looked over her shoulder to where Lois crouched by the tree, a present by her ear. “How is the investigation going over there, Lois? Discovering anything newsworthy?”

“Huh? What?” Lois snapped a present behind her back. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Right, you’re the soul of innocence.” Lena waggled a finger. “Come with us, innocent one.”

……...

Meanwhile out in the barn, Clark was fastening the last few straps to the harness of the sleigh that he’d uncovered, stopping occasionally to pet the nose of Arrow, the strong, proud chestnut gelding who had been a part of the Kent family for the past ten years or so. Arrow knew what was coming, and was impatient to get going, pawing the ground with one hoof and blowing hot air into Clark’s palm each time he petted him fondly.

Sitting on the driver’s seat of the sleigh, tail wagging furiously as he waited impatiently, just as eager to get going as the rest of them, Krypto was sporting a very fetching coat of his own. Though it was more of a novelty for him than a necessity, because like Clark and Kara, he didn’t feel the cold like the humans did.

“I really am sorry, Lois,” Clark said again, for the millionth time, as she finally came to join him in the barn. “As soon as we’re back, I’ll go and buy you a new one.”

“Forget it, Smallville, it was just a gingerbread house,” Lois sighed, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she pulled on her gloves and adjusted her scarf up a little higher, along with the collar of her coat. She could never stay mad at her husband for long. “Just… maybe next time save some for everyone else, huh?”

He was about to reply when he heard something, tilted his head to listen and then grinned. “They finally stopped smooching long enough to come and join us then.”

“Clark, behave,” Lois chided with a laugh as she reached up to feed Krypto one of his biscuits that she’d found buried in her coat pocket, for some reason.

Arms wrapped around each other and smiling broadly, Lena and Kara arrived at the barn. It took next to no time for the two Kryptonians to get the horse hooked up to the sleigh and get everyone in place. The winter air in Kansas was crisp, breath rising up in smoke-like tendrils from humans, Kryptonians, dogs and horses alike. The humans cuddled into their alien others for a bit of extra warmth as the sleigh made its first lurching motion and slid out of the barn, whilst Krypto jumped from the driver’s seat into the back with Kara and Lena and sat with his paws on the side as he gazed out happily, tail wagging back and forth as his own breath puffed in clouds in front of him. .

After a bit, the quiet was broken by a happy sigh from Lena. “This is perfect.”

“Mmmmm,” Kara hummed in agreement as she pulled Lena perhaps a millimeter closer, trying to chase away any remaining space between them. “I never thought my life could get this good, but then there was you.”

“Then there was you,” Lena agreed as she snuggled in with a happy smile painting her lips.

“Oh, that honeymoon phase,” Lois grinned as she glanced back at the two lovebirds sitting inside the carriage, whilst she sat up front in the driver’s seat beside Clark. “Remember those days, Clark?”

“Yeah,” he nodded with a grin, steering them round a mound of snow that he didn’t want to risk going through in case it had something hidden inside. “What happened?”

“We grew old?” Lois shrugged. Then she held out a hand. “My turn.”

“To what?”

“To drive.”

“No.”

“Clark!”

“Lois.”

“Clark, come on, it’s a horse and cart. How much trouble can I cause with one of these things?”

“Did you seriously just ask that? You’re Lois Lane.”

“Lane-Kent,” she corrected with a smirk.

“My point is, you could find trouble in a padded cell.”

“Been there, done that,” Lois grinned proudly, and Clark rolled his eyes.

“Do you really want to kill the happy couple, back there?”

Lois glanced back to Kara and Lena. “You guys don’t mind if I take the reins for a bit, do ya?”

Kara shrugged. “I’m invulnerable. Sweetie?”

Lena smiled up sweetly at Lois. “I’d trust Lois with my life.”

“Three against one, Farm Boy. Hand ‘em over,” Lois made a motion with one hand and Clark grumbled but handed them over anyway.

Lois fumbled with them for a moment, almost dropped them, then cursed and raised one gloved hand to her mouth, using her teeth to pull the glove off. Then she did the same to the other and chucked them behind her into Lena’s lap. “That’s better! Right, off we go!”

“Gently, Lois! Gently!” Clark found himself gripping the bench he was sitting on, so tightly that the wood splintered and cracked slightly beneath. Lois chuckled and shook her head.

“Relax Smallville, I’ve got this. Trust me.”

“Are we going to die?” Lena asked far too casually as she snuggled into Kara.

“Nah, I’ll fly you out of here before that happens. I am worried about the horse though.”

“Clark will save the horse. That seems like the kind of thing Superman would do, don’t you think?”

“Oh, true,” Kara said as she tugged Lena just a bit closer as they hit a bump at their new, slightly elevated speed. “And Krypto would just rescue himself, so I guess all is well then.”

“Mmmm. My hero.”

Clark had to admit that Lois really wasn’t as bad as he was expecting, when it came to driving the sleigh. She was much better than when she was driving a car, that was for sure. As he glanced over to his wife, he could see a look of pure, genuine joy on her face. She was really enjoying herself, and was in no way going to sabotage it by being reckless, even if it was fun (so she claimed).

“Oh no.”

“What’s wrong?” Clark asked as he looked back at Lena’s deep frown.

“That.” She tilted her head back, gesturing across the frozen lake at a small, nearby farm and the large real estate sign that stood on the sign along the driveway.

“Wilkins sold his farm?” Lois grinned.

“Lois, eyes on the road!” Clark tried to grab the reins from her as the sleigh steered in the direction she looked, but too quickly, she had snapped her head and the reins back in the other direction and righted the vehicle.

“Keep your underoos unbunched, Clark.” She glanced to the side again. “Man, that’s great news. Mr. Wilkins is a total grouch. You remember when he blamed me for knocking down his fencing and letting his cattle out?”

“You did knock down his fence and let all his cattle out,” Clark replied.

“True, but he had no proof and just assumed I did it based on my less than sterling reputation which is totally unfair. Confirm your sources just like Perry always says. Anyway, I’m glad he’s gone. I wonder who the new neighbors are?”

“Not us,” Kara said.

Lena sighed heavily. “Not for our lack of trying. I offered the owner three times the going value, and he told me it wasn’t for sale.”

“Oh.” Clark adjusted his glasses and smiled. “Maybe the sale was already underway. I don’t know much about real estate… or anything, really, but that happens, right?”

“It does, but that wasn’t it. He was very interested when I made my initial offer, but when I sent him the paperwork, it was rejected. That was when he saw my last name.”

“Sweetheart—”

“My father really did a number on this town didn’t he, Clark?”

“Well… Lionel was good at getting his way when it came to business. He rubbed a few people the wrong way, and some folks hold a grudge.”

“You mean he screwed over honest, hardworking folks, and they hate the Luthor name to this day.” Before Clark could reply, Lena added, “It’s fine. I understand. I was hoping to show them a different sort of Luthor, but people in small towns have long memories, and you can’t get much smaller than Smallville.”

“Hey, I bet there’s another lot for sale in the town somewhere. Let’s ask Jess to look into it,” Kara said.

“It won’t be this lot on this lake right next to the Kent Farm. This one was perfect, Kara. This one was… home.”

Things got quiet, an awkward kind of quiet that was only filled by the thudding of horse hooves and sliding of the sled across the snow. Several times, Clark looked over his shoulder and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Finally, he settled back into the bench seat just as he heard the faint lyrical humming from somewhere and too late realised what was about to diffuse the uncomfortable mood.

“Oh no, Lois honey. No, nononono please don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Lois smiled brightly at him.

“Please, just don’t,” he groaned.

Lois held his gaze for a moment longer, took a deep breath and then started to sing, deliberately loudly and very deliberately off key. _“Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too. Come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with yoooooou!”_

Lois could sing, and she could sing very well, in fact, but she was deliberately doing it badly. It was a cringy clash of notes, her voice creaking and cracking like an old record on an equally old record player. It was both horrible and wonderful at the same time.

_“Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling ‘yoo hoo!’ Come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with yoooooou!”_

“Rao help me,” he groaned, burying his face into one hand, but he was hiding a smile.

“We’re singing?” Kara was upright, nearly toppling Lena over in her excitement, her disappointment seemingly forgotten. _“Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy and cozy are we. We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be.”_ She smiled down at her girlfriend who was righting herself. “Come on, Lena, join in.”

“No,” she replied, flatly.

Kara laughed and scooped Lena into a one-armed hug. _“Let's take the road before us and sing a chorus or two. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.”_

_“Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, let's go, let's look at the show. We're riding in a wonderland of snow.”_ Lois flicked the reins lightly across Arrow’s hind quarters, urging him on a little more with the lightest of touches. He picked up his feet and obliged instantly. “ _Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, it's grand, just holding your hand.”_ She moved the reins into one hand and took Clark’s in her other. “ _We're riding along with a song, of a wintry fairy land.”_

“Two hands Lois! Two hands!” Clark exclaimed.

At Lois hitting the notes properly this time, Lena pulled slightly from Kara’s grip to face forward. “Lois can sing?”

“Yup,” Kara replied. _“Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy and cozy are we. We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be.”_ She tugged Lena in closer again and planted a loud kiss on her girlfriend's cheek.

Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Clark let out a loud sigh. “Alright fine, if you’re going to sing, can you at least make it a decent song?”

“I thought you liked this one?” Lois pouted. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“One of?” He raised an eyebrow. “You have more than one?”

“Ahem,” Lois cleared her throat very dramatically with a huge grin. _“Jiiiiiiiiiiingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the—”_

“No!” Clark groaned as Krypto started to join in, throwing his head back and howling in glee. “No, not that one! Anything but that one! Why did I ask?!”

“Lenny, come on!” Lois glanced over her shoulder, causing them to drift slightly off course. Clark reached over and tugged the reins back, but Lois didn’t protest, she was having more fun now with this new game. _“Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh, over the fields we go, laughing all the way, ha ha ha!”_

“She’s insane, you know.” Lena smiled into Kara’s neck as she spoke, the good mood have infused her. “As a Luthor, I’m rather a subject matter expert here, and Lois Lane is insane.”

“Is that a criticism?”

“Certainly not. Lois is the good kind of crazy. To paraphrase Alice, ‘I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.’ That was about being bonkers, not insane, but I think it stands. Anyway, you have to be at least a little bit crazy to be in love. Look at the four of us. Is there any sane reason to believe this works?”

“You do make me crazy sometimes… in the best possible ways, of course.”

“Does it wear on you? I know I can be a lot but—” The press of lips cut off anything else she might have said.

Moments later, still smiling, Kara broke the kiss. “You are definitely a lot but not more than I can handle. I think I’ve proven that time and again.” Kara waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh, really. Does the back of a sleigh count as a room?” Lena replied with a sly grin.

“No!” Clark and Lois exclaimed in unison. However, when Lois tried to look back at them, Clark’s hand reached out and gently pushed her to face back towards the front again, earning him a fierce scowl of disapproval and several muttered curses that were most definitely not in any human language.

“Lois, please don’t swear at me in Kryptonian.”

After a moment of silence, Lois suddenly let out another loud exclamation. “Oh deer!”

“What?! What’s happening?!” Clark glanced about nervously, expecting trouble, but Lois was pointing across the field.

“No, idiot, deer! There!”

Indeed, just outside of the tree line were several white-tailed deer. Their heads perked up, alert for trouble at the sound of hooves and the sliding sleigh. Still, the humans (and aliens) and Krypto were far enough back not to seem a threat as the deer foraged late in the season. They stood tall, watching as the group passed a good forty feet away but didn’t slow down, merely admiring nature on their way.

“They’re beautiful.” Kara sighed. “Do you see them, babe?”

“Yes, they are. That’s another good reason to get out of the city more. We don’t see much but a few birds and squirrels unless we head up into the mountains to hike.”

“But birds are amazing. Terrifying but still amazing when you’re new to the planet. I never thought I’d see one let alone fly like one.”

Lois was oddly quiet as she turned in her seat to continue staring at the deer as they passed. Clark watched her for a moment, then reached out a gentle hand to rub her back. “You okay, Lo?”

“Yeah,” she nodded distractedly. “Just… thinking.”

“Uh oh.”

For once, she didn’t rise to his bait, but he knew what was going on. Lois’ mom’s favorite animals had been deer. He debated stopping so that she could see them for a little longer, but he’d already noticed that she had started shivering, so like the compassionate soul that he was, he turned them slowly back towards the distant farmhouse. “Sorry ladies, but I’m starting to get cold. Who wants to head back and warm up in front of the fire?”

As they started back for the farmhouse, Lois turned to look into the back of the sleigh. “Hey, can I grab my gloves back, Lenny?”

“Here you go,” Lena nodded, passing them over.

Lois smiled and nodded her thanks, turned to sit back facing the right way and tugged the gloves on. Then with a mischievous smile, she glanced at Clark. “Hey Smallville, one question?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Do you wanna build a snowman?”

…………………

Dinner was… Actually, it went well. Eliza and Martha showed up and unexpectedly so did Lucy. She’d gotten an invite, as she did every year, and had said she’d be there if she could make it, as she did every year, but for the first time, she actually showed up. There were a tense few moments where everyone waited to see if the Lane sisters would break out into bickering or full out war, but after an awkward exchange, things settled down.

After a brief introduction of Lucy to Lena, which thankfully also did not go poorly, people sat and ate, whilst Krypto appeared at some point and lounged beneath the table, scrounging any scraps that were dropped (or secretly fed to him by Kara). The food that remained on the table was almost as good as the company, and conversation jumped from superheroing, through corporate America, into science, across raising aliens, and even brushed against subjects classified as ‘if I told you I’d have to kill you’. After consuming a ham, a turkey, a lasagna, all the sides, and most of four pies, the family and friends divided into groups. Martha and Eliza insisted that since they hadn’t been allowed to help cook, they were going to clean up. Quite full, everyone else agreed with little fight. Lucy, Kara, Clark, and Lena headed to the living room, and Lois, who had been on her feet for most of the day cooking, headed to the bedroom to lie down.

“Getting old, huh Lois?” Lucy smirked.

“How about you try doing an honest day of hard work for a change, and then see how you like it,” Lois glared back as she headed for the stairs. “Sitting behind a desk and pushing pencils does not equate to hard work, either. No offense, Lena.”

“Um… none taken?” Lena raised her eyebrows and smiled awkwardly at Kara. “The collateral damage around her can be nasty.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet,” Kara replied. “When it comes to sibling rivalry, the Luthors have nothing on the Lanes.”

“Oh, really? I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Miss Luthor,” Clark edged his glasses further up his nose, eyeing the staircase where his wife had recently vanished to the upper levels of the farmhouse, accompanied by Krypto.

Following his gaze, Lena asked, “Will she be gone for a few minutes?”

“When it comes to predicting how long my wife is going to take at doing something, anything is possible,” Clark shrugged. “According to Lois, how long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you’re on.”

“Not exactly Einstein’s theory of relativity, but as someone who has had to sit through a particularly long board meeting after drinking a latte grand, Lois’ theory isn’t unsound.” Lena gave Kara’s sleeve a tug. “Darling, would you grab the rest of Lois’ gifts that are hidden in the trunk?”

“Sure, but it will cost you.” Kara leaned in close, pressing a deep and not particularly chaste kiss to her girlfriend’s lips.

“Ugh, you two are so happy, it’s disgusting,” Lucy said, but her smile and the twinkle in her eyes gave away her true feelings.

“Jealous much?” Kara moved with inhuman speed, pressing a sloppy kiss to Lucy’s cheek and then dancing away before she could react.

“Hey, quit it! I don’t want your alien germs all over me!” Lucy wiped her cheek with her sleeve rather dramatically though the smile never left her face. “Save that for your girlfriend.”

“Gladly,” Kara said as she left the room whistling some merry Christmas tune.

Still smiling, Lucy watched Kara go and then turned back to Lena. “You have to tell me how that happened.”

“She’s always been happy. I can hardly take credit for it.”

“Not that though I’m sure you’re a big part of it. How did you two get together?”

“Oh, that.” Lena waved casually and grabbed her wine glass from the coffee table, taking a sip. “It’s rather boring, actually.”

“A Luthor and a Super dating is boring? I don’t think so. Spill.”

“We were friends, and then we started dating. There really isn’t much more to it than that.”

Picking up her own glass, Lucy swirled the wine slowly while she stared at Lena. “Why don’t I believe you?”

“Because you’re not the trusting sort?”

“True, but I also think you’re holding out on me. Clark?”

“No one tells me anything. Try asking your sister when she gets up.”

“No thanks,” Lucy replied. “I’d rather waterboard Luthor here into giving up her secrets.”

“Waterboarding? How droll.” Leaning back on the couch, Lena took another sip of her wine as she stared at Lucy over the rim of her glass. “You do realize I was raised by the woman who gave birth to Lex Luthor. Do you really think there’s anything you can do to me that’s worse than my childhood?”

“Huh, good point.” When the front door opened to reveal Kara ladened with presents, Lucy smiled. “But every chain, no matter how strong, has a weak link. Hey, you need a hand there, Kara?”

“Nah, I got these, Lucy, but thanks.”

“Can I get you something to eat? There are still cookies in the kitchen.”

“We still have cookies?” Kara placed the gifts under the tree and rearranged them into neat little piles. “I can’t say no to cookies, not during the holidays. That would be, like, unfestive.”

As Lucy left, Clark leaned a bit closer to his cousin. “Pssst. It’s a trap.”

“Huh?”

“She’s trying to bribe you to give up your secrets, darling,” Lena said. “Be careful with that one.”

“What secrets? I don’t have any secrets. I told Lucy who I was years ago.”

“Not that secret. Lucy is trying to get details about our relationship.”

“Like S.E.X. stuff? I’m not talking to her about that.”

“You’re adorable.” Lena pressed a kiss to Kara’s temple. “You do know there are no children present. You don’t have to spell.”

“Yeah but…” Kara tilted her head toward Clark.

“Your cousin is going to be a father. I’m fairly certain he knows all about S.E.X. stuff. From what Lois has told me, he certainly does.” She raised her glass in a toast to Clark.

Clark didn’t respond, but a bright red blush rose from his cheeks all the way up to the tips of his ears.

“Okay, cookies and even hot cocoa for the Super cousins. Martha and Eliza had water on for tea so I…” Carrying a tray with two mugs and a plate of cookies, Lucy paused as she looked at a slightly flustered Kara and a very red Clark. She placed the tray down before squinting at Lena. “What did you do to them?”

“Me? I did nothing. You’re just profiling me based on my last name, Major Lane.”

“Please, I leave you alone with them for three minutes, and these two look like a couple of twelve year olds that snuck into their first Rated R film. What did you do?”

When her phone rang, Kara snatched it up. “Saved by the bell. Hey, Alex, too bad you didn’t make it. Lucy’s here.” She switched it over to speaker.

_“Lucy made it? Hey, Lucy, Merry Christmas.”_

“Merry Christmas to you too, Director Danvers. I heard you were dating Kelly. Congrats to you both. She’s a great lady.”

_“Yeah, she is. We’re very happy. Well, I’m very happy. I hope she’s happy. Do you think she’s happy? Have you spoken to James? Has he said anything to you?”_

“Alex, relax. She’s happy. I have it on very good authority that she doesn’t bring home just anyone to Mama Olsen. You’re doing good.”

_“Phew. Thanks.”_

“Sweetie, can you put her on the TV?” Kara asked as she held out her phone.

Grabbing up the remote control, Lena pressed just a few buttons and Alex’s face lit up the TV.

_“Hey, hi guys.”_

“This is why I’m dating a genius.” Kara pressed a kiss to Lena’s forehead. “Hey Alex. Nice Christmas sweater.”

Alex pulled out her sweater from the bottom. It was red and in classic ugly sweater white stitching it said, ‘Of course, I’m on the good list. I’m a psychiatrist.’ _“Oh, thanks. It’s Kelly’s.”_

“We could tell,” Lena said. “Forgot your ugly sweater?”

_“Sort of? I was hoping I’d gotten out of that tradition.”_

Kara proudly patted hers with a knitted image of Santa in his Sleigh on it. Instead of being drawn by reindeer however, his sleigh was being pulled by a knitted Supergirl. “Nope.”

Clark sat up a little so that his sweater was also on show - a blue sweater with a white snowman flexing his muscles and knitted text that said ‘I’m sexy and I snow it.’

“I didn’t choose it,” he insisted at the raised eyebrows he received from Alex and Lucy. “Lois did. She was going to wear hers, but after the events of… uh… let’s just say that after last year, she changed her mind.” He glanced at Lena with a little smirk. “I can’t think why.”

_“Where’s yours, Luthor?”_ Alex asked, turning her eyes to Lena.

Lena chuckled. “I don’t think so. Apparently, my love does know some boundaries.”

“Hey, speaking of their love. Alex, do you know the story of how these two crazy kids got together?” Lucy asked.

“I told you. It’s boring,” Lena replied.

_“Boring?”_ Alex’s face split into a wide grin. _“You got a drink, Lucy?”_

Lucy held up her glass.

_“Top it off. You’re gonna need it.”_

“Lena’s right. It’s really not all that interesting.”

_“Let me tell you a little story about how my idiot sister and her idiot girlfriend were so busy repressing their feelings for each other and being gay messes that they almost destroyed the Earth.”_

With a bottle of wine held frozen over her glass, Lucy stared wide-eyed at Alex. “You’re fucking with me.”

_“If my girlfriend let me I’d… Ahem. Nope, totally serious. Okay, so it was a little over a year ago, and Kara had not that long ago come out to Lena.”_

“Come out or come out?” Lucy asked.

_“Good question. Come out as Supergirl. There had been this ugliness with Lena making kryptonite to save Sam who was Reign, and it got messy. Kara and I talked about it, and we realized that so many of the things that had happened with Lena were because she didn’t know Kara was Supergirl. Hell, the Daxamite invasion wouldn’t have happened if Lena had known Kara was Supergirl. Kara was scared—”_

“Terrified.”

_“—but she went to see Lena, and she told Lena the truth.”_

“And they got together?” Lucy asked.

_“No. Lena was royally pissed off and accused Kara of basing their entire relationship on lies.”_

“Well, that’s true,” Lena mumbled into her glass as she took another sip of her wine.

_“She sent Kara away and refused to talk to her. Kara went home and cried in her ice cream for days. It was pathetic. It was the gayest shit I’ve ever seen, and I’m including sex with girls.”_

“Hey!” Kara grabbed a cookie and shoved it into her mouth. “Mean.”

_“Lena wasn’t any better. She just took a different approach. She threw herself into her work announcing two buyouts and filing for four personal patents in less than six months. It was almost like she was some sort of gay genius billionaire having a tantrum and trying to distract herself from her girl crush.”_

“Well now you’re just being… insulting,” Lena said.

_“It’s only mean and insulting if it wasn’t true, which it was. You both acted like it was the end of the world which was so dramatic… until it almost was the end of the world.”_

“Wait, what happened?” Lucy asked.

_“Our annual end of the world sale. Everything must go, literally everything. Some cosmic fucker named Retcon showed up with an agenda with who knows what purpose, but he was going to rejoin all of the multiverses into one universe and remove what he called the redundancies.”_

“What the fuck is a redundancy?” Lucy asked.

“We are. We’re a redundancy,” Lena said. “Anything but Earth 1, which we are not, is apparently a redundancy. However, we worked together, saved the world, and lived happily ever after. End of story. I’m going to get another bottle of wine. Lucy, would you like more?”

“Chill your tits, Luthor. Alex, get to the good part of the story,” Lucy said. “Did these two love birds cause this cosmic power being to show up to destroy us?”

_“No, I have no idea why he showed up. He evil-monologued a lot, which for once I didn’t mind because it gave us more time to work with the other dimensions to find a solution, but not that. No, the problem came in after we opened communication with the other dimensions and discovered we needed to act simultaneously to protect all of our worlds from Retcon’s scheme to turn us all into memories for our Earth 1 selves.”_

“Killing us without killing us.” Kara shuddered.

_“True. Anyway, we worked quickly, but it took some real brainpower,”_ she gestured toward Lena, _“and muscle,”_ and gave her sister a nod, _“to get all of the pieces in place. You would have thought death was preferable to them being in the same room together when it came time to get all of the machines online at the same time and shield the dimensions from the merge.”_

“We weren’t that bad, Alex,” Kara said.

_“They **were** that bad. We had a small window to get this done, to get everything fired up and ready. The timing had to be perfect. We each had our jobs to do. Kara is literally carrying pieces of tech that weigh tons, or she’s supposed to be, while Lena is doing last minute coding… supposedly. I’m doing my goddamn job and bringing everything online. Meanwhile, Gay Disaster Thing One and Thing Two are having a lovers quarrel.”_

“We were not! It was a difference of opinion!”

_“It was gay as shit, Lena. It was Broadway musical, parade in June, snapbacks and Vans, second date Uhauling **gay**! I’m running around, plugging in cables: Kara’s job, trying to finish code: I did not go to MIT as a child prodigy, and also getting the multi-dimensional saving device online while these bitches are in the corner sniffling and talking about their feelings. **GAY!** ”_

“You are fucking kidding me,” Lucy gasped in disbelief.

_“Hand on heart, they’re hugging and crying while I’m Googling information about coding and the multiverse, which is about as helpful as you’d think it would be, for help. I finally sprayed them with a fire extinguisher—”_

“And interrupted our first kiss,” Kara grumbled.

_“—because they were ignoring my panicked meltdown over the end of the world and sucking face. So that’s how their love story started and almost ended and the whole world with it.”_

“Holy motherfucker.” Lucy just stared at Kara and Lena.

With an eye roll, Lena shrugged. “She’s exaggerating… slightly. We weren’t sucking face. It was a gentle kiss.”

“We really almost died because of these two?” Lucy asked.

“Hey.” Kara pouted at her sister before she grabbed another cookie. “It’s hard to stay mad when the cookies are so good.”

_“I told you, the epitome of clueless gays.”_

“You talking about yourself again, Red?” Lois grumbled as she padded into the room, eyes half mast and looking utterly fed up and gloomy, Krypto dutifully padding along beside her, having become her unofficial and self appointed guardian.

Clearly Lois had been woken from her sleep by the bickering far too soon for her liking.

_“Hey, I’m not a clueless… Okay, I guess that’s fair,”_ Alex said. _“Merry Christmas, Lois. You look, uh, tired. Clark said you were up early and went to lie down. I’m sorry if we woke you. How are you feeling?”_

“Exhausted,” Lois admitted as she flopped into the chair and snuggled into Clark’s waiting embrace. “And listening to you lot really didn’t help either. Merry Christmas by the way, Red. How’s the fam?”

_“Oh, great. Mrs. Olsen is really nice, and I only almost had a stroke meeting her. Why is it that you can be an FBI agent and a doctor who has saved the world working with Supergirl multiple times and still feel like a nervous teenager when you meet your girlfriend’s mom?”_

“I think the only one of this group qualified to be nervous when meeting her girl’s mother is Kara,” Lois smirked. “The rest of us got lucky with our significant other’s mothers. No offense, Lenny.”

“I’m nervous meeting my mother,” Lena said. “I don’t know if Kara is exactly nervous but—”

“I’m scared usually for my life. Your mom is terrifying.”

“Awww, come here, darling. I’ll protect you,” Lena said as Kara snuggled in closer. “I’ll make you something new to protect you from her, just in case.”

“Weird, but the whole Luthor/Super dynamic really works,” Lucy said. “You missed Alex telling us the story of how these two kids got together and almost killed all of us in the process.”

“We did not,” Kara grumbled.

“Oh, it was _those_ clueless gays you were talking about,” Lois realised with a grin as she shifted up and made room for Krypto to jump up on the sofa beside her. “I apologize, Alex. I thought you were talking about yourself again.”

“Lois?” Clark raised an eyebrow at her.

“Clark?” She returned innocently as Krypto decided that actually there wasn’t as much room as he had first thought, and jumped down again to go and flop in front of the fire instead.

“Shhhh.”

She opened her mouth to say something else, then noticed for the first time the tree. And what was underneath it. “More presents?! Where the hell did they come from?!”

“After watching you shake presents to divine their contents last year, Kara and I decided some of your gifts would wait until we were ready to open them to make it into the house. Since you don’t have x-ray vision,” _‘I hope,’_ Lena mouthed silently with a smirk, “you’ll have to find out what’s in those the old fashioned way.”

Lois was on her feet again in an instant. “When do we start?!”

“Looks like lazy bones got some of her energy back. It’s a Christmas miracle,” Lucy said.

“I’m amazed you haven’t told everyone what you got them all, already,” Lois scowled back. “What was it the kids in school used to call you? Loose Lips Lucy? Could never keep a secret to save your life.”

“I seem to remember the kids in school having a different nickname for you, Lois. It was more like no one else being allowed to have a secret around you, Big Nose.”

“And we all know the origin of that nickname had _your_ name written all over it. In backstabbing bitchberry lip gloss!”

“Uh, guys…” Kara began.

“Even if it did, at least I can admit it doesn’t suit you anymore.” Lucy tilted her head to the side, examining Lois. “It’s more like Big Butt now.”

“Oh ho, you did not just go there!” Lois held out both hands to her sides a little, challenging her sister. “Come here and say that to my face.”

“Is this going to get violent?” Lena whispered.

“Possibly, probably, Rao, I hope not,” Kara replied.

_“Lena, psst, Lena,”_ Alex hissed through the screen. _“Fifty bucks on Lois.”_

“In your dreams, Alex.” Lena scoffed.

“Relax, Lois.” Lucy stood, an easy smile on her face as she took two steps closer to her sister. “I know that was a low blow, but it was an easy target.”

“You are cruising for a bruising,” Lois growled, her fists clenched tight. “Get over here so I can kick your ass.”

“Please, the only thing in danger from you here is the leftover pie. Did you have a slice of all three kinds? Lois, I’m not trying to shame you, but married life is changing you. You’re really letting yourself go.”

Lois sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes narrowed even as her nostrils flared. Clark wondered if he should perhaps grab a fire extinguisher, just in case.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Should you do something?” Lena whispered.

“Get in the middle of them? No way. I’m invulnerable not stupid.”

“Come on, Lois, do I have to point it out for you?” Lucy stepped up to her sister, poking Lois in the abdomen with one finger. “It’s like the Man of Steel is married to the Woman of Dough. You got fat.”

“I’m not fat, you stupid bitch. **I’m pregnant**!”

There was a phrase ‘you could have knocked me over with a feather’, and it summed up Lucy perfectly in that moment. The smirk dropped from her face to be replaced by a gaping jaw, and her eyes widened in shock. No one spoke for several moments, and even the sounds of running water from the kitchen stopped. It was as if those two words had frozen this moment in time, stretched it out to go on, and on, and on. Maybe Lois was right and time was relative.

“Clark?” Martha stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her hands dripping and Eliza standing behind her, “Did I just hear… Are you two…?”

“Um yeah,” Clark stood up and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly for a moment, before moving over to Lois and draping his arm around her shoulders to hold her close, as a big beaming grin split across his face from ear to ear. “So, it was meant to be a surprise. But… well… surprise?”

“Sorry,” Lois grinned at her sheepishly. “Kind of ruined that moment, didn’t I.”

“A baby?” Shaking the water from her hands before wiping them on her shirt, Martha carefully approached Lois. “How? I mean… how?”

“Mrs. K, you of all people should know _how_ ,” Lois couldn’t help the mischievous grin. “Do I really need to go over the whole birds and the bees thing for you?”

“So you two?” Martha looked back and forth between Lois and Clark. “The baby is going to be what exactly?”

“Loved,” Clark said immediately.

“Definitely,” Lois agreed with a nod.

Martha nodded, her eyes already misted over as a hand hovered inches from Lois’ abdomen. “May I?”

“Always, Grandma,” Lois stepped forward gently to close the gap with a big smile, even as Clark stepped round behind his mother and wrapped his arms around her in a huge hug.

“Merry Christmas, Mom,” he whispered into her ear.

“A baby.” For several moments, Martha said nothing, just stood smiling, then she turned back toward the kitchen. “Did you hear that, Eliza? I’m going to be a grandmother.”

“Oh, I did, and before me. Ahem.”

Immediately, both Alex (through the screen) and Kara pointed at each other.

“She’s older!” Kara said.

_“She’s been with her girlfriend longer!”_

“Age before beauty.”

_“Dumbass.”_

“Alright, alright, before we start the second sibling war of the night, I have a gift for Kara I’m actually rather anxious to give her.” Lena rose and retrieved a present from under the tree. “Since we’re all here, would you mind opening this?”

“Sure, I love presents!”

_“Hold on,”_ Alex said. _“Kelly, Kara is opening her gift. Get in here!”_ There was some shuffling in the background, and then Kelly, accompanied by James, appeared.

_“What’s going on?”_ James asked.

_“Kara’s big gift,”_ Alex said.

_“And we have to be here because?”_ James asked.

_“Because Lena asked us to be,”_ Kelly replied.

_“Do we know what it is?”_ he asked.

_“Shhhh,”_ Alex and Kelly shushed him together.

The gift Lena held was about the size of two shoe boxes laid on top of each other and wrapped in shiny blue foil with a red bow. She glanced over at Lois who gave her a sly thumbs up before she smiled and held it out to Kara.

“Merry Christmas.”

Kara squinted. “You don’t have to put lead in the wrapping paper, you know. I won’t peek.”

“If you didn’t peek, how would you know I put lead in the wrapping paper?”

“I… I just mean… crap.”

“She’s always been a peeker,” Eliza said. “After the first year, we added the lead to the paper, and the presents just mysteriously opened themselves.”

“It could happen,” Kara argued.

“Just open this one, please? I hope you’ll like it. I spent a lot of time working on it,” Lena said.

“You made it yourself?” Kara asked.

“Parts of it, yes. Just open it. You’ll see.”

Peeling back the wrapping revealed a rather plain looking white box from which Kara extracted a snowglobe. However, it was empty, having neither snow nor even liquid inside. The base was blue to match Supergirl’s uniform, and the House of El Symbol, a red design offset with gold, sat proudly in the center of the base.

“I don’t get it,” Kara said.

Lena took the globe back, placing it on the coffee table and gently tugging Kara down onto the couch next to her. “Press your family crest.”

“My… oh.” The symbol in the globe slid in with a quiet click, and Kara’s eyes widened as the globe lit up.

Immediately, a familiar tune, ‘Grow As We Go’ by Ben Platt, started to play, and within the globe, images formed. A small scene played out as two figures appeared, faceless but feminine, one with the symbol of L-Corp on her chest and the other flying onto the scene wearing the House of El symbol. They moved nearer, almost in a dance, getting closer and closer before they broke apart. They became smaller and smaller as the distance between them grew, and the song played on. Then the figure representing Kara streaked across the globe, and they grew in size as the two figures neared again. She landed and stood over where the Lena hologram sat curled in on herself, and then Kara knelt and wrapped Lena up in her arms. For several beats of the song, they stayed like that, then the Lena hologram turned and embraced the other. As they separated, they reached to their own chests and removed their symbols, holding them out to the other and pressing them together. The symbols merged, making a new symbol formed of both houses as the figures faded and only the one new symbol remained.

_“Hey, that looks like you two are—”_ The word ‘mute’ popped over the screen where Alex was speaking, and off to the side, Lois stood with the remote in her hand.

“Oh, Rao, Lena, that was beautiful,” Kara said. “It was so much like our relationship, the closeness and then the distance but us coming back together. Then at the end, us not being two houses but one, that was… was…” As the song stopped, there was another click, and a compartment in the base of the globe popped open. “What’s this?”

Pulling open the drawer in the base revealed a ruby and sapphire platinum bracelet surrounding a ring. The ring was also platinum with sapphire stone in the shape of the shield of the House of El crest. Set into the band of the ring were several rubies.

Lena pulled out the bracelet, a nervous smile on her face. Engraved on its interior, where it would be against the wearer’s skin and not visible to prying eyes, was the House of El symbol. “I made the base of the globe out of lead to protect it from snooping Kryptonians.”

“Lena, wait. Bracelets on Krypton—”

“I know.” She slid to one knee in front of Kara as she held out the bracelet. “Kara, you are the most incredible person in the whole universe, and I can’t believe you ended up on my planet let alone in my life. I don’t think I’m worthy of you, but if you’ll give me the chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life doing my all to try and be. I can’t promise I won’t hurt you because I’m a headstrong idiot who often can’t see the forest for the acer pseudoplatanium. But I can promise I will love you completely and unconditionally until my last breath… if you’ll have me. Kara Zor-El Danvers of the House of El, will you marry me?”

There were several heart pounding moments of silence where Kara’s mouth opened wordlessly, her audience hanging, sometimes literally, on the edge of their seat, before she finally nodded. “Yes. Oh Rao, yes, I’ll marry you, Lena. I love you.”

As a smile broke over her face, Lena released the breath she was holding and pressed a kiss onto Kara’s lips. When they broke apart, she looked up at the smiling faces surrounding them. “She said yes.”

“Of course, she did,” Lois beamed, the glitter of an unshed tear catching the light every now and then at the corner of her eye as her hands dropped to rest over her stomach, her own bracelet sliding free of the cuff of her shirt and dropping to sit round her wrist as well, for all to see.

Clark moved behind his wife and wrapped his big, strong arms around her, his hands resting over the top of hers as his chin rested on her shoulder, his watch resting against her bracelet - the pair of them matching colours with their rose gold and blue designs. Also matching Lois’ own wedding and engagement rings that she wore, again in the rose gold and sapphire design to match their chosen colour scheme.

“You knew?” he whispered quietly in her ear.

“Surprised?” she whispered back, turning to steal a quick kiss from him.

“You realise that’s two secrets you’ve managed to keep for who knows how long, now. That’s got to be a new record for you.”

“Three,” she scowled at him. “I’ve kept three secrets. Or have you forgotten that I keep yours on an almost daily basis as well?”

“Alright three,” he chuckled. “I stand corrected. I’m sorry.”

“So you should be,” she smirked, stealing another quick kiss.

When Lena had switched out the bracelet for the ring which she managed to finally get on Kara’s hand despite both of them trembling, they kissed again before rising for congratulatory hugs.

“Look, we’re engaged,” Kara said as she held out the ring.

“My girls!” Eliza managed to scoop them both into a hug. “I can’t wait to start planning the wedding.”

“Eliza, we just got engaged,” Kara said as she smiled over her foster mother’s back at her fiancée.

“As if I haven’t been thinking about this for years,” Eliza said. “What season are we thinking? What color scheme?”

“I’m going to give you Jess’ number,” Lena said as she stepped away. “Though she feigns indifference, I know for a fact she has a rather extensive file dedicated to my relationship with Kara. When I mentioned the engagement—”

“Jess knew?”

Lena cropped an eyebrow at Kara. “Jess had a dozen appropriate ring pictures for me, with the contact information for the jewlers, within fifteen minutes, and she also knew Kara’s ring size. My assistant acts with a ridiculously high level of efficiency, but that was suspicious even for her. I assume she began wedding planning since Kara and I started dating and I finally left the ‘useless lesbian’ category.”

“I look forward to talking with Jess. She sounds like family… in a good way,” Eliza said.

“Speaking of family,” Lucy pointed at the screen where Alex and Kelly were waving madly with James barely visible behind them, the word ‘mute’ standing out in bright yellow, “I think the Danvers and Olsen clan would like to be included in this.”

“Oh, crap, they’re muted. Someone unmute them,” Lois exclaimed.

There was a good minute or two of everyone shuffling around, looking on and under things, and digging around in the couch.

“Where’s the remote? Did someone sit on it?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, who muted… Oh, I muted them!” Lois held out the remote that had been in her hand the whole time, triggering the sound back on. “Sorry about that. Baby brain.”

_“Can you hear us yet?”_ Alex asked. _“Are we unmuted? Folks? Anyone?”_

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. You were about to ruin the surprise so I… go ahead.”

_“Congratulations!”_ Alex yelled. _“So that’s why we needed to call for the gifts. I’m so happy for you two.”_

_“So am I. Congratulations Lena and Kara,”_ Kelly added.

_“Can I get in on this?”_ James leaned in until he managed to squeeze between his sister and Alex. _“Congratulations to you both. I’m throwing my hat into the ring for wedding photographer right now.”_

“You’re hired,” Kara said.

“Send me your portfolio,” Lena smirked, “and we’ll let you know.”

“Lena! James, we’d love to have you do pictures, but we also want you to enjoy the wedding and—”

From the snowglobe, a new tune started up. Everyone quieted, and very quickly recognizable sounds of the Pink Panther Theme Song rang out.

Kara wheeled on Lena. “You didn’t!”

Head tilted back, Lena cackled.

“You did! That’s it, the wedding’s off!”

“But, Kara, it’s our song!” Lena said as she continued to laugh.

“What’s going on?” Clark asked.

“The hell if I know. Whatever this is, Lenny kept it from me. So much for BFFs.”

“Alex, any idea what’s going on?” Eliza asked.

_“None. You two feel like sharing whatever inside joke this is?”_

“No!”

“Oh, absolutely,” Lena said. “You see, when your sister first asked me out, officially, she was so romantic.”

“Oh, Rao.” Kara covered her face with both hands and fell back into the couch, sliding down.

“It was after that little bit of confusion with the dimensions almost merging and us nearly being destroyed, and we’d both taken stock of our priorities. There’s nothing like a near death experience to make you understand what’s important.” She reached out, squeezing Kara’s shoulder. “Kara said she wanted to start off our relationship the right way, no more lies or mistakes, and she had a question to ask me. She pulled out her phone and started up a playlist. She said this was our song, and she had something very important to ask me. Then **this** song came on.”

“It was the wrong playlist! Oh, Rao! It was supposed to be Grow As We Go by Ben Platt. You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Nope.” Lena slid onto Kara’s lap, planting a firm kiss on her finacée’s lips. “Not for the rest of our lives together.”

“Together. El Mayarah.”

“Stronger together,” Lena agreed.

_“Guys?”_ Alex waved at the screen. _“I hate to cut this love fest short, but Kelly’s mom says we need to go open gifts now too.”_

_“She’s my mom too, you know,”_ James said.

Alex rolled her eyes. _“Anyway, congrats to you both. Kara, I want to see that ring and the bracelet when we’re both back in town.”_

“Definitely. Sisters night.”

Everyone made their goodbyes, and Alex and the Olsen siblings signed off to continue their own Christmas festivities.

“Alright, who’s next for gifts?” Kara asked.

Clark kissed Lois’ cheek gently then guided her to one of the chairs. “Go sit. I’ll bring yours over.”

“I’m pregnant Clark, not an invalid,” Lois scowled, even as she did as she was told and went to sit beside Lena and Kara.

“Mom? Mrs Danvers? Would you care to take a seat and I’ll bring yours over as well?” He turned to them both as well, before crouching down to check the tags of each gift that was stacked beneath the tree, whilst both women found spaces to sit as well, Eliza beside Lucy and Martha beside Lois.

Krypto perked up at the sound of rustling, but then decided it was nothing really important after all and laid his head back down on his paws to sleep again.

“Here we go, ladies,” Clark grinned as he started to dish out the gifts to each of them in turn, before he paused and cocked his head to one side. “Huh.”

“Something wrong, Smallville?” Lois asked, watching him curiously.

“I just never noticed before how outnumbered I am.” He shrugged and went back to dishing out the gifts again. “Alright ladies, these are all from Lois and myself. Except yours, Lois, because you can’t give yourself a gift, even though, knowing you, you’d want to try given half a chance.”

“At least I’d know I’d like what I was getting,” Lois smirked as she took her wrapped parcel, waited for Clark to hand one to each of the others except Lucy, and cringed a little. But before she could say anything, Clark headed back to the tree and pulled out two further presents - one a small, roundish shape and one a rectangular shape - from the very back. “Here you go Lucy. It’s not much, but we always get you something every year just in case you can make it.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lois grumbled, though there was much less heat to her words now than there had been earlier. Without waiting for anyone to say anything, she began to rip into the wrapping paper, then squeaked in delight when she saw the contents inside. “Clark! You shouldn’t have!”

She pulled out a black sweater which she hastily stood up and pulled on, shimmying it down over herself and then grinning as she glanced down to it. In the place of her bump, bright red writing had been stitched into a circular design that read “Santa Baby”. A few festive adornments such as holly and snowflakes also adorned the sweater, to take away the plainness of it.

Along with the sweater was a book - the biography of Nellie Bly, who happened to be Lois’ personal hero and the inspiration for Lois becoming a reporter in the first place. And there was also a subscription to Doughnut Digest Weekly as well. Intrigued, Lois read the description and her excitement grew to overflowing.

She looked longingly at the doughnuts in the glossy magazine, then sprang back to her feet and kissed Clark joyously. “This is why I love you! You totally get me!”

“Glad you liked it,” he chuckled.

“What is that?” Kara asked, eyeing the pictures of doughnuts with more than idle curiosity.

“This is the reason I married this hunky alien eye candy,” Lois said. “Every week, a box of doughnuts will be delivered to yours truly. They make them from recipes from all over the globe. International doughnuts in the privacy of my own home. Oh, and to be clear, Clark, as much as I love you, Mama and baby don’t share.”

Clark chuckled. “I already knew that. If I want Yugoslavian doughnuts, I’ll put on my suit and get takeout.”

“International… doughnuts?” Kara licked her lips and swallowed. “Rao, what an amazing gift. You’re so lucky, Lois.”

“Right, and all you got was a marriage proposal with a handmade relationship hologram and a bracelet representing the customs of your race from the woman you love,” Lena said flatly. “I’m so thoughtless.”

“Oh, no, Lena, no I—”

Lips pressed against Kara’s, Lena cut off her fiancée. The kiss deepened to the point that it took Eliza clearing her throat before the two women took a step back, both smiling sheepishly.

“I love that for all the wonders you’ve seen, you love the simple things in life like doughnuts,” Lena sighed.

“And I love that for all the wonders you’ve seen, you love the simple things in life like me. I’m simple.”

“You really are,” Lena agreed, “simply perfect for me.”

“While they’re being grossly happy again, Clark, give your Mom her present.”

Clark handed over a flat box which Martha opened to reveal a framed ultrasound.

“That was supposed to reveal the baby but…”

“Sorry,” Lois said. “There is a part two to this little surprise though.”

“There is?” Clark said.

“At the last ultrasound, Alex asked me if we wanted to know the gender and…” Lois grinned.

“You know?” Clark pulled off his glasses and stretched his collar away from his neck. “Did it get warm in here? Someone check the thermostat. Maybe we should open a window.”

Kara laughed. “Wow, Man of Steel turns to jelly.”

“We’ll see how you are when your wife is pregnant,” Lois said.

“Wife… Pregnant… What…?”

“Getting warm in here, Kara?” Lois grinned. “Okay, so do you want to know, Clark? If you’d rather me keep secret number four to myself,” She bit her lower lip, “I’ll manage.”

Clark knelt in front of her, one hand on Lois’ abdomen. “I’m going to be a father. We’re going to be parents of…?” He smiled expectantly.

Lois looked from him, over to Martha than back again. “A son and a grandson respectively. Clark, you’re going to have a—” As his arms were thrown around her and squeezed, Lois grunted. “Hey, easy there. Baby on board.”

“Right, sorry. A son. I’m going to have a son. Mom, you’re going to have a grandson.” He gently pulled back and said, “His name is Jonathan.”

“Jonathan.” Martha wiped a tear from her eye. “Are you sure, both of you?”

“Mrs. K, there was never even any discussion. We both knew our son, if we ever had one, would be named after his grandfather. We both kinda just,” Lois shrugged, “assumed like there was no other choice.”

  
“Because there wasn’t,” Clark said.

“He’d be so happy,” Martha said as she embraced Lois, “so happy and proud of you both.”

“Can you imagine your dad’s reaction to us dating?” Lois laughed, breaking some of the tension in the room. “I’m pretty sure he was hoping you’d end up with Lana.”

“I think he was just hoping I wouldn’t end up as a lab experiment,” he glanced over at Lena, “of no one in particular.”

Lena didn’t respond, just rolled her eyes and let it go as the gift giving continued.

Lucy opened her gifts, first of all to reveal an actual lump of coal. She studied it for a moment, confused, looking for the hidden catch or for some meaning to it that perhaps it was more than what it first appeared. When she glanced up at Lois, however, she realised that what she was holding in her hand was in fact a lump of coal. She set it down, then opened the second gift to reveal a much more appealing box of chocolates. This time she smiled at Clark and nodded her thanks to him. He returned the nod and smile as Lois pushed past him and held out an envelope to Eliza.

The gift that Lois and Clark gave to Eliza turned out to be an invitation to dinner with William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza, the joint winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019 for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. Lois had garnered a recent interview with them and swore she sweet talked one of them into the dinner (though Clark whispered something about late night shots and keeping something off the record).

In keeping with the science theme, Lena and Kara gave Eliza the unpublished journals of Irwin A. Rose, the Nobel winning biochemist who had recently passed away. Lena swore the bidding for the journals had been exhilarating, and she was especially proud to have beaten out the representatives from John Hopkins University for the prize.

In turn, Eliza had her own friends in high places and had called in some favors. A group who ran an automated farming operation had agreed to bump the Kent Farm to next on their list. Outside of a week to setup the machines and a few days for collecting the harvests at different points during the year, it meant they’d have a fully operation growing farm again with no work on their parts and very little outside influence as privacy was a major factor. It also meant the farm would be drawing an income again, enough of one to pay the mortgage, taxes, and put away a few dollars for repairs.

Martha and Eliza exchanged gifts, opened them together, and both cracked up laughing. Over the years, their families had grown closer, and as single women of the same generation, so had they. So though their gifts came as a surprise, in hindsight, they shouldn’t have. From Martha to Eliza there was a weekend away at an all inclusive spa that had come highly recommended by the wife of another Senator while Eliza gave Martha a weekend trip to a vineyard in California for wine tasting and relaxation. Both trips were for two as they meant to accompany their BFF.

“Are you, uh, gonna eat that whole box of candy?” Kara asked as she leaned closer to Lucy.

“I got one gift, an actual lump of coal and… Here.” Lucy sighed and held out the box to Kara who didn’t hesitate to snatch it up. “Two pieces is my limit anyway.”

“Thanks,” Kara said around a mouthful of chocolate. “We would have gotten you something if we’d known you’d be here, Lucy.”

“Don’t sweat it, Sunny Danvers. I wasn’t sure myself until this morning. My gift to all of you will have to be my presence.”

“Where can we exchange that?” Lois whispered as she elbowed Clark.

“Be nice,” he whispered back. When the doorbell rang, he looked over his glasses and frowned. “It’s a delivery guy with a package. Huh, I wonder why—”

“Lucy should get it,” Lena said.

“What did you do?” Kara asked.

“Not me, us.” Lena touched Kara’s hand, her fingertip patting the engagement ring. “It’s all an ‘us’ now.”

With a grumble, Kara shoved another piece of candy into her mouth.

“Should I be worried?” Lucy asked as she made her way to the door.

“Of course not,” Lena replied as Kara nodded. “Stop it, you. It’s fine, Lucy. Kara and I just wanted to give you a little something to commemorate our first Christmas all together.”

“Kara just wants to eat this box of candy and has no idea what’s going on.”

“Ha, you could put that on a t-shirt,” Lois said.

Kara pouted but didn’t disagree.

“Delivery for a Major Lucy Lane.”

“That’s me,” Lucy said as she signed for the package. “You usually do deliveries on Christmas Day?”

“Overnight and last minute deliveries for select clients are sort of our niche. You must know someone.” He handed over the package. “Merry Christmas, Major Lane.”

“You too.” Lucy hefted the package which was fairly narrow but long, like the shape of a long stem flower box. “Okay, this is heavy. It’s from you, Luthor?”

“Kara and me, yes.”

“Eating chocolate,” Kara mumbled.

“Is it gold?” Lucy grinned as she sat on the couch with the box in her lap and tore off the paper. “Gold bars are heavy.”

“Should it have been? I’ll make note of that for next year.”

Lucy laughed, the smile freezing on her face and then falling away when she met Lena’s level gaze. “Is she kidding?”

“Who knows. Just open it already,” Lois said.

“Working on it.” Once the wrapping was removed, Lucy used a pocket knife to make short order of the tape. In seconds, the bubble wrap was removed to reveal a wooden case. Lucy laid it on the coffee table, snapping it open to reveal a rifle. “Is this… Did you… A Winchester 73.... How did you… Is this really…?” Mouth agape as she held the weapon in her hands, Lucy stared up at Lena.

“You mentioned over dinner that you’d been saving to buy one, so I texted my assistant. She was able to place a no-bid purchase for one before it went to auction and then arranged with a private courier we use to have it delivered. Do you like it?”

Wordlessly, Lucy’s mouth opened and closed as she looked up and down between Lena and the rifle.

“She’s speechless.” Lois’ grin practically split her face. “Hey, Lenny, that can be your gift to me.”

Lena waved an envelope around. “So you don’t want this?”

“Gimme!” Lois practically jumped out of her seat and snatched the envelope from Lena’s hand, tearing into it. “Season box seats to the Toronto Maple Leafs!?”

“You’ll love it. The food is excellent, endless, and free, and special guests from the organization visit during each game. L-Corp decided to purchase a box for guests this year which means you need to be on your best… better than your best behavior, understood?”

“When aren’t I?”

Lena sighed. “Clark?”

“We won’t embarrass you… too badly.”

“Thank you,” Lena said. “Now, for Martha, Kara and I got you this.”

As Lena held out a small box, Kara squinted and frowned down at it. “That’s not what we agreed to get her.”

“We had a better idea,” Lena replied.

“We should have discussed it.”

“We can’t always because sometimes we’re on different continents with one of us dealing with an active volcano.”

“Oh, yeah. That did happen.”

“Yeah, it did.”

“Ahem.” Martha looked at the box still held out in Lena’s hand. “What are we doing here, girls?”

“Oh, sorry. Just open it,” Kara said. “I’m sure it’s fine, right?”

“So little faith.” Lena pressed a kiss to Kara’s cheek before handing the box to Martha. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Kent.”

Martha unwrapped her gift to reveal… “It’s a cellphone. Thank you girls.”

“It’s unlocked. Look at the contacts,” Lena said.

Intrigued, Martha did so revealing only one contact. “Tang Yang, CEO, MOMO. Hold on.” Martha dug around in her purse, pulling out her own cell phone and going to her contacts. “This isn’t the number I have for his office.”

“That’s because you have the number for his secretary. That’s his private cell phone number. If you call that number from that phone, he will answer,” Lena said.

“Are you kidding me?” Martha looked down at the new phone in her hand. “MOMO is planning to open a major facility in the US next year. It would mean thousands of high tech jobs. I want them in my state. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been calling to try and discuss that with him?”

“Months from what his CFO tells me,” Lena replied. “You’ve got a foot in the door now, Mrs. Kent. The rest is up to you.”

“Lena this is… It’s too much. This could be life changing, livelihood saving for so many people in my state. I don’t know how to thank you.”

Before Lena could respond to Marth, Lucy said, “This isn’t jobs, but this is my dream rifle. My dad is going to be so jealous. I honestly don’t know what to say. Thank you isn’t enough.”

“Neither of you have to thank us. We’re all practically family. This is just what family does, takes care of each other.”

Clearing her throat, Kara leaned in closer to her fiancée and whispered, “Sweetheart, did you just bribe an Army Major and a U.S. Senator?”

“Darling,” Lena patted Kara’s cheek, “it’s not bribery when it’s Christmas.”

“I… I don’t think that’s legally true.”

“You let me worry about it, darling. After all, I have a Major and a Senator who are practically family.”

Even as Kara made a strangled noise, Martha said, “Clark, Kara, I had asked each of you to do something for me earlier. Would you please get me those things?” It took only a few moments for both of them to leave and return, Kara from the attic with a large present perhaps the size of a footlocker and Clark from the barn with something even larger. “Speaking of family, these have both been in my family for generations. Lena and Kara,” Martha gestured toward the crate Clark carried in, “this was handed down to me from my mother Annette, and to her from her mother. Now it’s yours.”

“Mrs. Kent, if it’s a family heirloom, I don’t think we can—”

“Family,” Martha said taking first Lena’s and then Kara’s hand.

“Wow, kinda stinks when someone uses your own words against you, doesn’t it?” Kara said.

“It is rather… unpleasant.”

“Now you know how it feels to get into a fight with you.” With a smile and a finger gun (which she would likely regret) Kara turned from Lena to open the crate. Inside was a dining room hutch, an oak cabinet on the bottom with a glass front on top. It was obviously handmade and old, quality craftsmanship with intricate carvings.

“This was in my mother’s dining room. It housed her good china, this beautiful little lilac pattern with gold trim. During the holidays, she’d pull them all down so we could eat off them. My mom always fretted they’d get chipped or broken, but Granny said, ‘What good are dishes if you don’t eat off of them, and what good is food if you don’t share it with the people you love?’ This was handed down through several generations of our family, and I know she’d want it to stay in our family, with those we love. That’s why I want you two to have it,” Martha said.

Lower lip quivering, Lena fell onto Kara’s shoulder where Kara wrapped her up and stroked her hair.

“Did I say something wrong?” Martha asked.

“No, nothing,” Kara said as she wiped a tear from under her eye. “Thank you from both of us. We’re so grateful. This means a lot, Mrs. Kent, really.”

Lena nodded into Kara’s shoulder, and Martha came forward to join the two girls in their hug. By the time they were done, everyone was sniffling, Lois complaining that Lena’s mascara was actually waterproof, and why didn’t the pregnant lady have that.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting tears from that.” Martha grabbed a box of facial tissues from the table, holding them out for Kara and Lena who both made use of them. “I think we should leave these out where they’re handy.”

“Uh-oh,” Lois said. “What did you do, Mrs. K?”

“When I was looking for the dining room hutch in the attic, I came across something unexpected. I knew immediately it had to go to you two, Clark and Lois, both of you. Given today’s announcement, it feels like this was meant to be.”

“Well this is dramatic,” Lucy said from where she sat on the couch, cradling her rifle like a baby. “Hurry up and open it.”

Everyone watched as Clark popped open the lid on the crate and removed a chest from within. Like the dining room hutch, it was hand-carved and beautifully made, but this looked new. Clark ran his hands along the smooth edges, any hint of sharpness or splinter (not that they’d be an issue for Superman) expertly sanded away. His fingers stopped their glide over the carving on the top in the center. A beautifully rendered House of El crest.

“This was in the attic?” he asked, his attention still focused entirely on the chest.

“Open it,” Martha said. “There’s something inside for you.”

Clark did so, staring down at an envelope which had his name on it in a simple penmanship, but he made no move to take it.

“You okay, Smallville?” Lois asked as she withdrew the letter. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

He took off his glasses, folding them carefully in his hand as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth but didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s my dad’s handwriting.”

“Oh.” Lois looked at the envelope with obviously newfound respect. “Well, you should read it then.”

“I don’t… You read it for me.”

“Nah, he left it for you.”

“He left it for both of you,” Martha said. “Go ahead and open it, Lois.”

“Both of us?” Lois grinned, shaking her head even as she opened the envelope. “Not me in particular but maybe Clark’s future wifey. Mr. Kent is probably rolling over in his grave knowing you ended up with the town troublemaker, Smallville. He was always kind to me, but I don’t think he much appreciated me hanging around you.”

As she read the letter, however, Lois’ all too familiar smirk faltered and fell away to be replaced by an unusual emotional openness. Her expression was a cross of raw honesty, a touch of insecurity, and more than a little bit of surprise. “He knew.”

“What?” Clark said.

“Your dad,” she held out the letter for Clark’s inspection, “he knew about us before we knew about us. Hell, I couldn’t stand you back then, you big idiot. How did **he** know?”

Martha rested a hand on Lois’ slightly swollen abdomen. “Sometimes parents have a way of seeing things that their children have to grow into to see for themselves. Be patient with this little one, and they’ll be amazed at how much smarter you get from the time they’re a teenager until they’re finished growing.”

“He calls you a handful.” Clark sniffled, thanking his mother as she handed over a facial tissue. “He says you’re smart, loyal, and probably more trouble than most mortal men can handle.” He smiled up at her. “It sounds like he’s got you pegged.”

“Yeah, good thing you’re no ordinary mortal man.”

“Read the second page,” Martha said.

Together, Clark and Lois pulled the second sheet forward, eyes growing watery and then tears falling.

“He never thought of you as anything but his son, Clark. Blood didn’t matter to him. He certainly didn’t expect this,” Martha said, her hand still resting on Lois’ abdomen, “but he did see you as a parent, and he wanted someone smart, loyal, and not afraid to stand up to a veritable superman to stand by your side and raise a family. He thought it would be Lois, and I know if he was standing here with us today, he’d be just as happy as I am. He couldn’t be prouder of you two, you three, of all you’ve accomplished and have yet to do. Promise me you’ll tell little Jonathan all about his grandfather.”

“Every day, I swear it,” Clark said.

“Oh, my God, I am too pregnant for this!” Lois grabbed Martha, pulling the older woman to her and weeping openly. “I love you, Mrs. K. I miss him so much. I wish he was here to see his grandson born.”

“He knows, Lois,” Matha said as she patted Lois’s back, “he knows.”

After a moment of further sniffling as Lois fought to control her emotions, she finally stepped back, palming the tears from her face. “Ugh, now I’m leaking from everywhere! This baby better be damned cute!” She dashed off to the bathroom, leaving Clark to dab at the corners of his eyes with his very screwed up tissue, which he then tucked into his jeans pocket, sniffed once more in an attempt to ‘man up’ and then smiled to the rest of the room.

“So, who’s next?”

“That would be us,” Kara said, pulling a small gift from under the tree. “Here you go, Clark. I don’t think this will make you cry.”

“Are you sure about that?” He managed a wry smile as he took the gift and carefully unwrapped it to find a long, slender box that looked suspiciously like a case for glasses. Popping it open did indeed reveal a pair of thick, black rimmed glasses virtually identical to the ones he was already wearing. A frown of confusion passed across his face briefly before he wrestled a look of gratitude to replace it. “Um… thanks guys. Lois always said I should get a spare pair.”

Pulling out her cell phone, Lena said, “Try them on.”

“O… kay,” Clark decided to humor her, took off his regular pair of glasses and set them to one side, then put this new pair on. “How do they look?”

Lena glanced down at her phone which was now a timer counting down from sixty seconds. “Give it a minute.”

Kara leaned over Lena’s shoulder and smirked. “Fifty-three seconds now.”

Clark raised his eyebrows. “What exactly am I waiting for?”

Kara rocked heel to toe, smirking at her cousin and glancing at the phone again. “Forty-one seconds now. Exciting.”

“Because it’s you who said that, cousin, I’m not going to panic,” Clark folded his arms across his chest, his eyes going slightly cross eyed as he tried to view the frames that he was wearing. “If Lois had said that, I’d have taken them off and thrown them out the window in case they self destructed.”

“He’s smarter than he looks.” Lena grimaced as soon as she spoke. “Sorry, that’s a habit and not a good one. Twenty-seven seconds.”

“Don’t worry, she says the same thing to me, Clark. She’s just jealous because we’re so pretty.”

“For those in the room who aren’t indestructible, this is completely safe, right?” Lucy asked.

“Of course,” Kara said. “Lena made it.”

“Right, and Luthors are known for their completely safe scientific inventions especially in relation to Supers.” Carefully sliding by Clark, Lucy thumbed toward the kitchen. “My rifle and I will be that way, having a heart to heart if you need military support, Kent.”

“Thanks Lucy,” Clark nodded, before he reached up to the glasses, intending to take them off. “Seriously guys, what’s meant to be happening?”

“Not yet!” Kara and Lena yelled at the same time.

“You’ll interrupt the calibration, and we’ll have to start all over,” Lena said.

“Yeah, Clark, use your patience,” Kara added.

Clark held his hands up in a sign of submission. “Sorry, Lois’ bad habits are wearing off on me.”

“Now you sound like Lena. The other day, I found her eyeing one of the dining room walls with a sharpie in her hand.”

“I was trying to visualize—” As Lena’s phone beeped, she nodded. “Alright, all done. You can take them off, Clark.”

Carefully, Clark reached up and removed them, then glanced at them in his hand, turning them over to inspect them from all angles. “What am I looking for?”

While Lena nodded at something on her phone, Kara said, “That’s perfect, now put them on and do it again, but this time, do it like you’re responding to an emergency. Really snap them off Superman style.”

“Is this some sort of joke?” He asked good naturedly as he put them back on again. “Has Lois put you up to this?”

“She isn’t even here to mock you,” Lena said.

“It’s not a joke, Clark, it’s a Christmas present. Trust us.”

“Always,” Clark smiled to each of them in turn, then with a shrug, whipped the glasses off again as if, like Kara had suggested, he was responding to an emergency. “Okay, now wha-oh!”

He was glancing down at his hand, holding the glasses, and watching, completely mesmerised at what was happening. Seemingly from thin air, Superman’s suit began to form over his body. It grew up his arms and down his legs, the distinctive red and blue appearing with the golden House of El Crest and and belt. Even the red cape hung from his shoulders, swaying slightly as Clark turned left and right to try and take in the entire costume. It was nearly but not exactly identical to his usual costume, and the material seemed to have a tensile strength that held up well against the poke of his finger giving slightly but not breaking. Where Clark Kent had stood only seconds earlier Superman now took his place.

“This is amazing!” He beamed, turning on the spot to study his reflection in the television screen. “How is this even possible?”

“Nanobot technology,” Lena said. “It’s completely safe. Trust me.”

“I have the same thing in mine.” Kara tapped at her glasses frames.

“They take approximately a minute to calibrate with the user’s DNA, but we have installed a limitation in them that they need Kryptonian DNA to activate, so if you leave your glasses lying around and some human finds them, they won’t end up with your super suit container. They’re very durable, resistant to kryptonite, capable of replication which is basically healing for your suit, and respond to damage to the wearer by thickening in certain areas for greater protection. They also form a helmet and gloves, in case of heavy kryptonite radiation, and can link in a head’s up display for even greater protection,” Lena said. “You don’t have to use it, but if you like it, we can install the app on your phone, and I can show you how to locate the glasses even if you’re not wearing them.”

Clark looked around for a moment, then patted his super suit where the pockets of his jeans would usually be. “Ah. My phone’s here.” He patted his right hand side. “How do I turn this thing off?”

“Become Clark Kent again,” Kara said. “Put the glasses back on.”

Clark considered for a brief moment, then nodded. “Of course. So logical.” He placed the glasses back on again and watched as the suit seemed to dissolve back in on itself until he was once more Clark Kent. “And if I remove them carefully, I stay like this?” he asked.

“That’s how it works,” Kara said. “You’re gonna save so much money on shirts.”

Cautiously, Clark removed the glasses, checking over his body as if for any sign of the costume returning. He folded them again, placing them on the tray with the empty mugs and plate on the table. “I see it, but I still don’t understand how it works.”

“Would you like a detailed explanation?”

Behind Lena’s back, Kara shook her head and waved Clark off, pretending to stretch when Lena glanced her way.

“Ah… not right now, thank you, Lena, but maybe later. You mentioned an app?”

“Pull out your phone.”

With Lena and Kara on either side of him on the couch, Clark was getting coached through the app once it was fully loaded on his phone. Not only did it allow the user to locate the glasses through a remote GPS system, the app could be downloaded onto several systems to give system updates on the suit and user. It would also give alerts through the app to kryptonite in the area.

“Okay, what did I miss? Are we done with presents?” Lois asked as she returned.

“I still haven’t given mine to Kara and Lena.” Eliza held out a set of matching boxes.

“Presents!” Kara scrambled over the back of the couch, nearly kicking Clark on her way.

“Kara! She’s sorry, Clark,” Lena said as she rose and walked around the couch.

“Oh, it’s fine. If she’s going to kick anyone, I’m the one she should kick,” he said before returning his attention to the new app.

“What did we get? What did we get?” Kara enthusiastically ripped the paper off her gift while next to her, Lena carefully removed her wrapping at the tape. When Kara had dropped the paper and flipped open the lid, she stared down at a blue set of knit gloves and scarf that matched the burgundy ones in Lena’s box. “Gloves and a scarf? But I already have— Hey, why’d you elbow me?”

“These are lovely, thank you, Eliza. They’ll go perfectly with my coat, and Kara’s will bring out the blue in her eyes. They’re perfect. Kara, thank your mother.”

Eliza chuckled. “You’re so polite, Lena, and Kara is so disappointed. Put them on and I’ll show you what they do.”

“I know what gloves do, Eliza,” Kara said as she tossed the scarf around her neck and tugged the gloves on. “They keep human’s fingers warm. Mine are always warm, right, babe?”

“True, but appearances are important. Kara Danvers can’t be seen in Smallville in December without winter clothing. These will be perfect for… Kara, did you just feel the wrist of your glove tighten?”

“Yeah. It’s just snug not too tight. Yours doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“No, but it’s warm. Eliza?”

Eliza tapped on her phone. “You’re not the only scientist in this family, Lena. We’ve developed some wonderful medical technology to alert doctors of any change in a patient’s vitals. We’ve made them small enough that they can be in a bracelet or watch, or in this case, in the lining of a glove. I thought that would be more fitting for the holiday, but I expect you two will want to move them to something you wear everyday. They’ll track your vitals and feed data to each other’s phones for spikes in blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenaline among other things.”

“Like if Kara’s injured.”

“Or when Lena has a press conference.”

Eyes narrowed, Lena glared. “That joke is getting old.”

“Then stop holding press conferences.”

“No fighting, you two. I’ve sent you links for the apps for these. They’re proprietary, but I’m curious to hear your feedback, Lena.”

“Oh, you’ll get it,” Lena said.

“This is amazing, Eliza, thank you. It could literally be lifesaving.” She kissed Eliza’s cheek. “I still haven’t given Lena her gift yet. Sweetie, sit down.”

“It’s a sit down gift?”

As Lena sat, Kara moved one of the last remaining gifts from under the tree to her. It was rectangular, maybe a foot and a half tall by a foot wide and deep, and it hummed very quietly from some internal powersource.

“It’s vibrating,” Lena said as Kara placed the gift in her lap. She raised a single brow and glanced left and right. “You sure I can open this in mixed company?”

“Hey, Lucy, want to come in here and see the sex toy Kara got Lena!?” Lois pitched her voice over her shoulder toward the kitchen.

“Put me down for when hell freezes over!” Lucy yelled back.

“Oh, Rao.” Kara blushed. “It’s not… Lois, no. Don’t make this weird, okay?”

“Hey, you’re the one who gave her a vibrating box in front of the family.”

Sighing, Kara knelt down in front of Lena, taking her fiancée’s hand in her own.

“You’re not going to propose, are you?”

“No. You kind of beat me to the punch. I had plans for New Years and… Anyway, no. Lena, I worry about you. You take a lot of chances, and I can’t always be with you. I worry someone is going to find out who I am and use you to get to me. I worry someone is going to use your friendship with Supergirl and hurt you. I worry that because of your family or your business, some is going to try and hurt you. I just… I worry, and since I can’t always be there to protect you, I wanted to get you someone who could be.”

“Someone?”

Kara smiled and patted the box. “This little one is from another galaxy. They’re clever and loyal little quadrupeds, very loyal. They imprint on whoever is there when they hatch.”

“Did you say hatch?”

“Open it.”

With her usual care, Lena opened the wrapping paper to reveal a metal box. She released the clasp and moved the covering away. Within was an incubator of sorts, and a large egg sat in the center. The egg itself glowed a faint aqua.

“Oh, my god. What is it?”

“We couldn’t pronounce their name in the original language from their home planet and ended up calling them drukaxians. They look a little bit like medium-sized Earth dogs, but their hair is more like a series of very fine fiber optic fibers controlled by their neurological system. The egg is glowing because the druka inside is glowing. Aqua is good. It means the drukaxian is relaxed.”

“Aqua is good,” Lena repeated. “This thing is color coded?”

“Sure, they’re empaths. They sync up with their person’s moods and sense the emotions of anyone around and toward their person. They’ll know if anyone is meaning you harm and change color to warn you.”

“Don’t get me wrong, the mad scientist in me is absolutely fascinated, but don’t you think someone will notice if I’m taking a mood ring alien dog on walkies?”

“I thought about that,” Kara said. “I figured you could use one of the image inducers on it. You won’t be able to see its colors, and they don’t have vocal cords to warn you of danger by barking or something, but they can make hundreds of unique noises by rubbing their tails together kind of like a cricket’s legs.”

“Tails… plural?”

Kara nodded.

Lena stared long and hard at the glowing egg, her eyes widening when something shifted inside and the outline of a foot with three toes in the front and a fourth in the back in the opposite direction was briefly visible within the semi-transparent egg. “Kara this is… amazing.”

“You like it?”

“I love it. How long until it hatches? I can’t wait to meet him… her…?”

“Them,” Kara said. “There’s only one gender.”

“Oh, them. Even better.” Lena pressed a hand to either side of the incubator and moved her face close as she spoke. “Hello, in there. I don’t know if you can hear me, but we’re going to get to be very good friends, you and I.” As if in response, the creature turned within the egg again, and the aqua color pulsed pink for a moment. “Is that good?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s very good.”

As Krypto nosed up to the incubator, sniffing curiously, Lois grabbed his collar. “Nope, that’s not happening. After it’s born, hatched, whatever, maybe you and other space doggy here can be friends. For now, why don’t you go lay down before we end up with a Christmas omelette.”

Krypto huffed back at Lois before stalking over to his bed by the fireplace, turning in three circles, and finally, lying down.

“Jeez, so much attitude. You better lose it before this kid is born. Soon, you won’t be the cutest one around here.” Reaching under the tree, Lois pulled out something the size of a shirtbox. “Clark, stop playing with your phone for a minute and give Lena and your cousin their present.”

“What? Oh, sorry.” Clark moved as if to adjust his glasses, but finding them absent, brushed the hair on the side of his head. “This new app is great. I’ll show it to you later, Lois. What are we doing?”

“Lena, Kara, present.” She held out the box at him, shaking it lightly.

“Let me clear some space,” Martha said as she took the tray with plates and mugs into the kitchen.

“Kara, Lena, Lois and I want you to know how much we enjoy having you both here. Last Christmas started out a bit rocky—”

“From what some of us remember,” Lois said.

“But it was the beginning of an amazing year where a relative stranger became a friend and then so much more. I feel safe speaking for both of us when I say you’re family, Lena, and the weekends you and Kara have spent up here with us are,” he looked over at Lois who nodded and smiled, “well, they’re the best times we can remember in a long time. There’s literally no one else in the whole world who understands us like you two do.”

“We feel the same,” Kara said.

“A Luthor and a Lane, friends,” Lena said.

“Family,” Lois said.

“I stand corrected, family. Who would have expected that?”

“Certainly not me, not by a long shot. After having met your brother, father, and mother, I wasn’t expecting much, well... much good, shall we say. But Lenny, you were a damn big surprise. A big one, but a good one. Anyway, before I start crying again because of these hormones, just open your damn gift already.”

Lena carefully peeled back the paper, and Kara tugged the box open. It was Lena who pulled out the framed certificate as they stared at it together.

“What is it?” Kara asked.

“It’s a title deed for land in Kansas,” Lena said.

“Not just any land,” Lois said. “Land on a lake with neighbors you’re sure to love like family.”

Mouth agape, Lena looked back and forth between Clark and Lois. “You bought it!?”

“Yup.” The P popped when Lois spoke.

“You were right about Mr. Wilkins not wanting to sell to a Luthor, Lena, but he didn’t have a problem selling to a Kent and at a fair market price.”

“See, I told you, Kara. I told you it was all about my last name. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Babe,” Kara pressed a gentle kiss to Lena’s lips, “shhh. Lois and Clark gave us the land next to the Kent Farm. What do we say?”

Lena embraced Lois saying, “I love you both. This is the found family I never thought I deserved. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Lois stepped back, waving a hand in front of her eyes. “I love you too, but you’re making me cry again, woman. Too many damn hormones. I’m getting a drink. Anyone else want anything?” She didn’t even wait for a reply, and started for the kitchen, but not before Clark caught her hand to hold her back. At her quizzical look from his hand, up his arm to his face, to finally hold his gaze, he answered her silent question.

“Lucy’s in the kitchen.”

“Yeah,” Lois nodded. “So?”

Clark studied her for a moment, then reluctantly let her hand go. “Just don’t burn the kitchen down.”

“With the mood I’m in?” Lois rolled her eyes. “No promises.”

Clark sat back down, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully, only to notice that everyone else in the room was staring at him incredulously.

“Are you actually going to leave her alone in the kitchen with Lucy, are you? Lucy’s armed,” Kara pointed out.

“Yeah, but Lois is invulnerable. What’s the worst that can happen?”

This time he was met with an incredulous look from Kara, a skeptical look from Lena, and unreadable looks from Martha and Eliza.

“Did you really just say that out loud?” Kara asked at last.

Clark rubbed his neck sheepishly again. “It’s the baby brain. I swear, it’s contagious.”

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Lucy was sitting at the table admiring her new rifle with great pride, but she sprang to her feet when Lois walked in.

“At ease soldier,” Lois sighed as she walked to the cupboard and took a fresh glass down, then crossed to the fridge and poured herself some fresh orange juice.

Noticing Lucy watching her uncertainly, Lois held up the glass. “Want one?”

“You got anything stronger?”

“Cold beer?” Lois took a bottle from the fridge and held it out to her.

Lucy waited a moment longer to see if there was some kind of trick or catch to Lois’ offer, but when it seemed that Lois had come in peace - for the moment at least - she relaxed and took the proffered bottle from her sister, then looked around for a bottle opener.

Seeing her sister’s predicament, Lois held her hand back out to take the bottle back. “Here, let me.” When the bottle was returned to her, she twisted the cap off easily, then beamed. “Ha! What about that? I wasn’t sure that would work.”

“Thanks,” Lucy also grinned as she took the bottle back, then nodded to the cap in Lois’ hand. “That one of the perks of carrying an alien baby?”

“Apparently,” Lois nodded as she leaned back against the counter. “Amongst other things.”

“Nice,” Lucy nodded as she leaned against the opposite counter, the two sisters facing each other with drinks in hand, a silence falling between them. But for once it wasn’t tense or dangerous. It was almost peaceful, even.

Lucy sipped her beer for a moment, then glanced down, picking and peeling at the label of the bottle for the moment as she tried to find the right words.

“I’m sorry.”

The words hadn’t come from Lucy’s mouth, and she looked up, startled. “What?”

“I said I’m sorry,” Lois repeated quietly.

“Wh-what for?” Lucy spluttered.

“I haven’t always been there for you.” Lois was swirling the orange juice in her own glass as she gazed down into it, almost as if she was trying to scry some mystical answer from within the orange depths. Though what her question was, it was impossible to know.

Again there was silence for a moment, and then Lucy spoke up at last. “I’m sorry too, Lois. For everything. Not just what I said earlier about you being fat, but about everything. All the pain I caused you. I drove our family apart and—”

“No,” Lois set her glass down a little more forcefully than she’d intended. “No, you didn’t. That is so typical of you, trying to take credit for everything all the time.”

“Hey,” Lucy retorted, only to realize that Lois was grinning, and recognizing it at last for what it was. A big sister teasing her little sister. But it was affectionate teasing. “Okay, that’s fair.”

She held out her bottle of beer, as Lois picked up her glass of orange again. They stepped forward and clinked the glass bottle and glass together lightly.

“Truce?” Lucy asked.

“Truce,” Lois nodded. “And how about next year you show up again, huh? And the year after that? And the year after that? Come see the littlest Lane-Kent and be proud of your nephew. Watch him grow up and be his cool Aunt?”

Lucy bit her lip and considered, then nodded. “Maybe I’ll do that.”

“Don’t ‘maybe’ me, Lou. Just do it, and I’ll get you more than coal for your stocking, you brat.”

Lucy laughed and shook her head. “I can’t believe you actually got me a lump of coal. You’re the brat.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“C’mere brat.”

Lucy stepped into her sister’s arms willingly and the two shared a quick hug, before Lucy gasped and jumped back a little. “Hey! Did he just kick me?”

“Maybe?” Lois grinned, before taking Lucy’s hand and placing it on a particular part of her stomach.

After a few seconds, Lucy felt another kick, and grinned in delight as well. “Oh my God, Lois! That’s… That’s amazing! I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom!”

“Funny, everyone says that when they find out,” Lois chuckled. Then she glanced at the kitchen table. “So, you got a new toy, huh? One rule after baby is born though. No firearms. I don’t want to set any bad examples.”

“Duly noted,” Lucy nodded, standing to attention and snapping off a very professional salute. Lois couldn’t help it and returned one in kind.

“Hey,” Lucy nodded, impressed. “You’re getting better at that. Maybe some of Clark’s good habits are rubbing off on you.” She went back over to her new rifle and took it out of its case reverently, sao that she could inspect every part of it in more detail.

Lifting Clark’s glasses off the tray that Martha had brought in a little bit earlier, she turned to Lucy, pulling them on. “Who, this guy?” She pushed the glasses up her nose further and affected a deep voice. “Oh gosh, oh golly, gee whizz. Oh, my bad I didn’t see you there Miss Lane. I’m such a clumsy klutz. Whoopsie daisy. Yes Chief, no Chief, whatever you say Chief.”

Lucy cracked up laughing, and from the living room, Clark tilted his head for a moment towards the kitchen, then sighed. “Panic over, everyone. The Lanes have called a truce.”

“How can you tell?” Martha asked curiously as she glanced up from the brochure she’d been given as part of Eliza’s gift to her.

“Because Lois is doing impressions, and Lucy is laughing.”

“Lois does impressions?” Martha shook her head. “Of whom? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.”

“Well…. Me,” he admitted sheepishly again, his cheeks turning bright red. “When I’m Clark Kent. And the worst part is, she’s actually really good at it too.”

Kara laughed. “How have I never seen that?”

“How have **_I_** never seen that?” Lena emptied the last of the bottle of wine into her glass. “Lois has been holding out on me. I thought we had sworn to mock our significant others together.”

“You don’t do impressions of me, do you?” Kara asked.

“Impressions, no. Do I share strings of texts on how you’ve fallen in love with someone else and are planning to leave me along with pictures of your new significant other?” One eyebrow raised, Lena smirked over the rim of her glass.

“To be fair, that was a really cute dog. You would have left me for him too. The fur pattern on his belly made a little heart. I mean, come on. That’s even more my kryptonite than kryptonite is.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Lena said.

Leaning over the back of the couch, Eliza pulled Kara closer and kissed the top of her head. “But she’s adorable.”

“Undeniably,” Kara said.

“Lena, Kara, would you two like to go see the new homestead?” Clark asked.

“We’ve seen it before,” Kara said, “but it is different now that it’s ours.”

“Lois mentioned that you’d planned to take the barn that’s on that lot and convert it to living quarters.”

“That’s what we’d discussed.” Lena reached out, squeezing Kara’s hand. “We knew a Luthor in Smallville would be a hard sell, and we didn’t want to bring in new construction or move in some monstrosity that didn’t suit the landscape or the lifestyle here. There’s a large barn in good shape on the land. It’s a pole barn, 40’ X 60’, which is more than enough space for us to convert to a house here. We can add a two-car garage, some decking, and a proper second level. It would obviously need full interior renovation, and plumbing and electrical would need to be run, but we thought it would be a fun project.”

“So, um, if a local carpenter had gotten ahold of it and done some work, you’d be okay with that?” Clark asked.

“What did you do?” Kara asked.

“Just some interior structural work and building in some plumbing and electrical with friends who owed me some favors, but you and Lena will have to design all of the finishing. It’s your home, after all.”

“Clark, that’s… it’s too much,” Lena said.

“I love doing it. As much as I enjoy reporting, and being a superhero is my calling, nothing makes me feel more,” Clark spread his hands in front of himself, staring down at them, “human than making something with my hands. It makes me feel closer to my dad too. He was always building and teaching me how to create. With the power in these hands, if it wasn’t for him showing me all the good I could do with them, I’d hate to think what kind of person I could have become.”

Things became quiet as Martha sat on the arm of the couch and held Clark. Leaning into Kara, Lena joined Eliza in embracing Kara. It was a simple moment of holiday peace and a reminder that with the power of gods coursing through their veins, with the ability to do most anything, Clark and Kara had chosen each and every day to do good, and it was due in no small part to the people in their lives.

As his phone flashed, Clark pulled it close, a line reminiscent of his cousin creasing his brows. “Lena, is it supposed to be doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“The app says that it’s calibrated. Didn’t it already do that?”

“Let me see.” Lena took the phone, frowning as she flipped through the menu. “It’s uploading your profile again. Hold on, it’s duplicating it.”

“You’re sure?” Clark asked.

“Unless it’s adding Kara, yes.”

As Lena glanced over at her, Kara held up her hands in an obvious gesture of denial.

“See, it has a second user entered. The option exists in the programming, but I didn’t expect—”

“What the fuck is that!?” Lucy yelled from the kitchen.

Everyone was off the couch in a heartbeat, the Supers staring through the wall.

“Oh, Rao,” Kara said.

“Uh-oh,” Clark groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Lena asked.

Clark spun on her. “I thought you said the suit only would work for Kryptonians?!”

“Yes… Well, it can only activate with Kryptonian DNA, so hypothetically—”

“Look at me!” Lois practically crashed through the swinging kitchen door, a huge smile on her face as she proudly showed off her supersuit. “I’m Superwoman! I’m gonna go to the roof and see if I can fly.”

“Lois, no!” Clark yelled even as Lois ran off at faster than normal human speed and disappeared from view.

Laughing maniacally, Lois’ voice echoed from the stairwell. “Lois, yes!”

“Lois!!!” Clark dashed after her, ripping his shirt open to reveal his original supersuit beneath. “Do not go jumping off the roof!”

“Up, up and away!”


	3. Away in a Manger

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Smallville?” Lois Lane-Kent huffed for what seemed to Clark to be the millionth time that very morning, alone.

“Lois,” he took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him, ignoring the fact that she’d been scrubbing frantically at one of Jon’s feeding bottles, so forcefully in fact that the bottle brush had started to fall apart and bristles were flying all over the sink. Ignoring the soap suds and water currently dripping onto his socks as he held his wife at arm’s length, he smiled. “I think that bottle is clean enough.”

“Have you been listening to a word I’ve been saying, Clark?!” Lois snapped, forcefully turning herself back to the sink to carry on attacking another bottle with the remnants of the brush again, clearly using it as a source to vent her frustration on.

“Unfortunately, it’s been impossible not to,” Clark muttered with a sigh of his own as he ventured over to the fridge, opened it and peered inside, wishing - and not for the first time - that he could feel the effects of the incredibly inviting beers that were neatly arranged within. Along with an entire supermarket’s worth of groceries.

“What was that?!” Lois shot him the dirtiest look he had ever seen from the reporter and he held his hands up quickly in a gesture of self defence.

“I said ‘Yes Dear’.”

Lois scowled at him for a few moments longer, then wagged the soapy, mostly destroyed brush in his direction. “Hands off the food!”

“Absolutely not touching the food,” Clark replied, showing her his empty hands, front and back. As soon as she turned back to the sink, he flashed out an arm, using his super speed to snag a handful of cooked chicken bits and a couple of cocktail sausages.

“Clark Joseph Kent, I saw that!” Lois called over her shoulder as he went off into the living room to find some festive music to play and check on their son, who was playing happily in his playpen.

As _Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!_ started to play through the surround sound system, Clark wandered back into the kitchen with their son in his arms, having also demolished any trace of food evidence before daring to show himself in Lois’ presence again. All except the small breadstick that Jon was gumming on quite happily.

“Lois,” he sighed, seeing that she’d finished brutalising all of Jon’s bottles and had now moved on to the small pots they used for his mushed food. “Honey, could you please relax? It’s just Kara and Lena. You know Kara and Lena. You love Kara and Lena.”

“They’re not the problem,” Lois growled. “Though I do worry that we may not have enough food. I should go out and get some more.”

“There’s enough food,” Clark reassured her gently, placing one strong hand on her shoulder and turning her to face him once more. She tried to resist, but was no match for his strength, so quickly gave in. “Hey,” he offered her a bright smile, and he could see that she was desperately fighting a smile of her own.

“Hi,” she grumbled at last, looking away though her resolve was fading rapidly. Especially when Jon, dressed in his little green and red elf onesie, gave her one of his big, gummy smiles as well and reached out his arms to her.

She caved in an instant and took her baby into her arms, cuddling him close and dropping a few kisses into his tuft of silky soft hair as he went back to munching happily on his breadstick again.

“Lo, talk to me,” Clark spoke to her gently, releasing his grip on her shoulder but not letting go completely. “What’s wrong? What’s got you so worked up?”

“It’s just… “ Lois faltered, and then sighed. “Well, Lena. Do you really think it’s a good idea that she comes to us this year? We should have gone to them. It would have been much safer.”

“You wanted to release this little terror upon National City?” Clark smirked, rubbing one of Jon’s chubby cheeks affectionately with a finger. “Shame on you, Lois. That has to be the most despicable plan I’ve ever heard, and believe me, I’ve heard many despicable plans in my time.”

Lois couldn’t help but grin then. “I guess you do have a point.” She glanced down to Jon and affected a tone that she reserved especially for him. “We couldn’t do that to National City, could we little man? The poor city wouldn’t know what had hit it. Maybe we’ll keep you here where we can limit your damage to the radius of the farm. How about that, huh? Would you like that? Would you? I bet you would.”

Jon babbled something incoherent, in a language known only to babies all around the world, and offered her the soggy remnants of the breadstick he’d been sucking on. She pretended to eat it, which made him giggle, and then he held it out to Clark, who actually did take a bite of it, much to Lois’ disgust.

“Clark!”

“What? It’s still food,” Clark shrugged. “He didn’t want it.”

“He’s your son! Of course he wants food!” Lois scowled, before gently passing Jon back to his father. “Go play with daddy now, little buddy. Mommy still has work to do before your aunties turn up.”

“Come on, Champ, there’s a train that needs rescuing in the living room,” Clark lifted Jon up onto his shoulders which made him squeal in delight, and together they whooshed (slowly) from the room, Jon’s giggles lingering long after his departure and sounding throughout the entire house.

Lois stood in the doorway for a moment, watching father and son playing with Clark’s train set. She couldn’t stop the contented sigh from escaping through her smiling lips at the scenario in front of her. For such a big man - in both height and stature - the Man of Steel was as gentle as a lamb with his son and was truly an amazing father. Much of that, she decided, was thanks to the wonderful Jonathan Kent, who little Jon was named after, in memory of the grandfather he’d never know, but they would make absolutely sure he heard all about so that it would be like he had known him after all.

She hoped that some day they could have a daughter as well, and this sentiment could be shared about her mother, as well. Turning away and walking over to the kitchen window, Lois picked up the small blue glass bird. “Hey Mom, Merry Christmas. Hope you’re doing okay. This is from Jon.” She placed a gentle kiss on top of the bird’s head, then set it back on the window sill, glancing up again in time to see a familiar car turning down the driveway of the farm.

“Smallville, they’re here!”

A black SUV wound its way along the snowy driveway leading to the Kent Farm. Lois made her way to the front door, opening it to the chilly December Kansas air where her breath rose in mist toward the sky. It was a far cry from the alien-pregnancy initiated warmth her body had contrived this time last year, but it was a welcome return to the normal of the season. She was just starting to chill when the two women arrived from the vehicle with gifts in hand.

“Hey, Merry Christmas!” Lois called to them. “Hurry up and get your asses inside before I freeze to death!”

“Cheery as always,” Alex said as she pressed a quick kiss to Lois’ cheek as she passed.

“Merry Christmas, Lois.” Kelly stepped inside, glancing around the room and smiling. “Are we the first ones here?”

“You are indeed,” Lois nodded as she shut the door quickly, then pointed to the living room. “The boys are through there. Be warned, Jon’s very dribbly today. And Clark isn’t much better.”

“Is Jon awake?” Alex shifted presents into Lois’ arms without asking. “Can we go see him?”

“Alex, sweetie,” Kelly shot Lois an apologetic look, “we’ll be here for a few days. There’s plenty of time to get your baby fix in. I’m sure Lois will even be happy to let you change diapers, right?”

“Oh Jon’s saved them all up especially for you, Auntie Alex,” Lois smirked as she led the way into the living room to put the presents under the tree. “Hey, Jon, who’s this?”

At the sound of his mother’s voice, Jon looked up from where he’d been sitting in Clark’s lap playing with a train carriage. Seeing Alex, he squealed and held his arms out to her excitedly.

“Hey, little man.” Alex scooped up the squealing baby, holding him close and inhaling as she pressed her face into his hair. “You should bottle this scent. You’d make millions, billions. You’d give Lena a run for her money.”

“I know, right!” Lois beamed as Clark stood up, set the trains to one side and stepped forward to give Kelly a welcome hug, followed by a quick kiss on the cheek for Alex.

“Hey, Merry Christmas, guys. How was the journey?”

Jon, meanwhile, was snuggling into Alex with glee, enjoying all the attention. Until his little chubby hand reached up to grab some of her hair, that is. Clark darted forward to the rescue quickly.

“No you don’t, little man. You’ve got a much stronger grip than most. Don’t hurt poor Auntie Alex.”

“Yeah, Auntie Alex doesn’t have enough hair to spare.” Alex held Jon out at arm’s length while he squealed and wiggled. “What do you think, Jon, think I could rock a crew cut?”

“Yes,” Kelly carded her fingers through the long hairs on the top of Alex’s head, lightly scratching her girlfriend’s scalp, “but I like it longer. Can we keep it?”

“Mmmm,” Alex hummed in agreement.

“Alright, can I get you ladies anything to drink?” Clark asked, satisfied that now Jon was going to behave himself. For the moment.

“Beer,” Alex said. “It was a long drive, and water didn’t cut it. Wait, is it too early for beer?” She looked over at Kelly.

“I’m not your mother. Can I just get a water,” Kelly said, “and your bathroom? It was a long drive. Excuse me.”

“Upstairs, second door on the left,” Lois supplied helpfully as Clark went off toward the kitchen to get the drinks.

“Lo?”

“Oh, I’m good thanks, hun,” Lois smiled back at him as he poked his head round the door. “But Jon could have some water if he’s got any left in his bottle?”

“Coming right up,” Clark vanished into the kitchen again, and Lois turned back to Alex.

“So, care to give me a sneak preview on your big gift to Kelly this year?” Lois asked. “Come on. Inquiring minds want to know.”

“Inquiring…” Alex blanched and glanced toward the stairs where Kelly had gone. “More like nosy reporter.”

“How about caring friend and family member.” When Alex looked less than convinced, Lois shrugged. “What? I can be both, can’t I?”

“Just chill it around Kelly, okay?”

Lois raised one eyebrow. “You afraid I’ll scare her off or something?”

“Or something.”

“Aren’t lesbians supposed to move quickly in relationships or something?” Lois asked. “Are you sure you aren’t already gay common law married or—”

“I swear to God, Lois!” Alex hissed, pointing threateningly as her face screwed up in anger.

“Easy there, Agent,” Lois held up both hands in front of her. “Stand down.”

Jon saw his mother’s arms raised and squealed again, kicking as he tried to get to Lois instead. She took him with an apologetic smile to Alex, right as Clark came back in with the drinks.

“Here you go, Alex,” he handed her a beer. “Is that cold enough for you? I can make it colder if you’d like?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Nothing’s ever too much trouble for family,” Clark grinned as he took the bottle back from her, then blew gently over the lower half of it, frosting the glass a little. “How about that?”

Alex took a sip, visibly relaxing as she swallowed. “Flying, superstrength, even heat vision are neat, but on a summer’s day, nothing is better than freeze breath. So, Kara call to cancel yet?”

“Not yet,” Lois shook her head anxiously. “Don’t get me wrong, Alex, as much as I adore your sister and Lena, they really shouldn’t be coming here this year. We should have gone to them.”

“Yeah, I agree which is why I’m kind of hoping they cancel. I’m also worried they will, and we’ll all end up back in National City before tonight.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay here the night, and we can all travel back tomorrow morning if you like?” Clark suggested as he took Jon from Lois, sat with him on the sofa and gave him his bottle of water to suck on. Jon wanted to hold the bottle himself, but hadn’t quite got the hang of it, so Clark was holding it for him, much to Jon’s annoyance as he kept grunting and gruffing in frustration. At least that’s what Clark assumed he was doing, until he noticed Lois trying to hide a smirk. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lois shook her head innocently. Except it was Lois and she was smirking, so Clark knew it was anything but innocent. A few seconds later, he smelt why.

“Oh boy.”

“Want me to?” Alex said as she placed her beer on the table and held out her hands for Jon. “I’m still in the stage with him where everything about him is cute.”

“You won’t be saying that in five minutes,” Lois chuckled, even as Clark handed him over. “But if you’re offering, we’re not saying no. You know where his changing stuff is, right?”

“Unless you’ve moved it.” With Jon in her arms, she moved toward the stairs. “Come on, buddy, let’s go change that… Phew! Buddy, what are Mom and Dad feeding you?”

“Have fun!” Lois called after them with a grin, before noticing that Clark had stopped to listen for something. “What’s up?”

“Sounds like Grandma’s arrived,” he smiled, heading for the front door. “Oh, both of them have. Looks like they came together.”

“You do know that Eliza’s not a grandmother, right?”

“No, but she’s still Jon’s ‘sort of’ grandmother. It counts,” Clark shrugged.

Reappearing from upstairs, Kelly asked, “Did my girlfriend volunteer for changing duty?”

“Yup,” Lois nodded, passing Kelly the glass of water that Clark had fetched for her. “She’s doing her civic ‘doody’ like any good Federal Agent.”

“Is she always this mature?” Kelly asked Clark.

“Unfortunately so,” Clark nodded. Then he patted Kelly lightly on the shoulder. “You get used to it, though. Eventually.”

“Everybody loves me,” Lois beamed as Martha and Eliza walked in, arms loaded with bags which Clark quickly relieved them of. “Isn’t that right, Mrs. K?”

Martha glanced quickly between the others in the room. “I’m far too old to fall into this trap. Where’s my grandson?”

“Upstairs with Alex,” Clark kissed his mother’s cheek in greeting, then gave Eliza a quick hug.

“Alex is doing her civic doody,” Lois nodded and Clark groaned.

“Lois, it wasn’t funny the first time, and it’s not funny the second, either.”

“You’re just annoyed you didn’t think of it first,” Lois shrugged.

“How was your flight, ladies?” Kelly asked.

“Fine,” Eliza said. “It’s almost like I’m flying with someone important.” She gave Martha a good natured elbow.

“Imagine if they knew who our kids were,” Martha said. “Oh, Clark, would you be a dear and get our luggage from the car?”

“Sure,” he adjusted his glasses for a moment, then flashed out the door, returning a moment later with an arm full of cases. “Was this all of them?”

“Um,” Eliza brushed her hair out of her face from the breeze, “looks to be. Martha?”

“Yup, that’s all of ‘em. Those are mine. Clark, put Eliza’s bags over at Kara’s and Lena’s please. Are the girls here yet?”

“Not yet,” Lois shook her head, the smile dropping from her face as Clark set off to deliver the respective cases to their respective guest rooms. “Alex and I were saying just now how we don’t think it’s a good idea them coming here, this year.”

“Kara and I had a similar discussion,” Eliza said, “but you know how headstrong Lena is. Good luck to all of us combined getting that girl to do something else once she’s made up her mind.”

“She’s worse than me,” Lois nodded, placing her hands on her hips. Then noticing the simultaneous looks she received from the others, she shrugged. “What? She is. Least I can admit I’m difficult.”

“Difficult?” Alex scoffed as she walked into the room with Jon on her hip. “Decoding the secrets of ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs was difficult. You’re just a…” She stopped suddenly, looked around the room and noticed the extra company they now had, then pulled Jon close up to her face and smiled. “Your mommy is one of a kind, and thank God for that.”

Jon responded by placing one of his palms flat against Alex’s cheek and burbling softly, blinking his big purplish blue eyes back at her.

“Ugh, how are you so cute? That’s your superpower, you know that, right?”

Lois glanced at the others, opened her mouth to say something, then for the first time ever, thought better of it and closed her mouth again, just as Clark came back from delivering cases where needed. “Anyone else for drinks?”

“Clark’s really getting the hang of this whole good hostess thing,” Lois nudged him with an elbow. “Alex wants to know how we made such a cute kid.”

“Oh, everyone knows the looks are all yours, sweetie,” Clark replied without missing a beat, as if this was a well rehearsed phrase. Kissing her forehead, he turned to see if anyone else needed anything from the kitchen.

After drinks were handed out, the group sat down to catch up on recent events and enjoy Jon’s antics. Since Clark and Lois’ goings on either made the news or were the news, Jon’s rolling over and how close he was to crawling consumed most of their conversation. Likewise, Martha’s news from the US Senate was a matter of public record. Eliza could share a bit more about her research, and she and Alex wandered into some deep scientific woods before Kelly pulled them back out. They were just about to wander down another discussion on genomes when Clark frowned and stood up, peering toward the ceiling as he slowly removed his glasses.

“You… okay there Smallville?” Lois frowned, watching him. And then she noticed that Jon had tilted his head towards the ceiling as well. “Huh. What are you both hearing that we’re not?”

“They’re here,” was all Clark said. “I’d better go uncover the landing pad for them.”

“Oh boy,” Lois sucked in a deep breath. “I feel sick. Why do I feel nervous? Does anyone else feel nervous? I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“You’re not pregnant again, are you?” Alex asked. “I’ve got the hormone cocktail perfected this time. The coming down from the pregnancy-induced superpower high will be much easier.”

Gasping, Martha reached out and squeezed Lois’ hand.

“No,” Lois scowled at Alex, before forcing her features to soften as she turned and placed her free hand over Martha’s. “I’m not, Mrs. K. I… we, um… we’re not...” Lois took a deep breath and shook her head. “We’re not ready for that yet. Baby steps and all that.” She glanced at Jon with a fond smile. “Literally.”

“So not yet,” Martha said.

“I’m saying nothing more on this subject,” Lois shook her head, then drew an imaginary zip across her lips. Then she grinned. “Anyway, we all know who’s turn it is next.” She looked directly at Alex again as she spoke.

“Lois!” Alex hissed as her eyes widened and she glanced up at her mother who even now had evident hope growing on her face. “Do you know how many ways I can kill a person with just one finger?”

“Six,” Lois replied without hesitation. And without fear either. “Want another beer?”

“I… yes. I think I’m gonna need it.”

Kelly pressed a kiss to the top of Alex’s head. “You know, this is a lot more fun than spending Christmas with my family.”

“Says you.”

“Yes, says me. I’ve seen full military reviews that were less intrusive than my mother when I brought you home. I nearly prescribed myself something to get through it. At least you have a married sister to share the parental burden. I wish James was dating someone.”

Lois, who’d been heading to the kitchen, did a swift u-turn at that comment and came right back again. “Why **_did_** he and Lucy split?”

“Um, that’s a good question. I think it was because James’ affections were… divided,” Kelly said.

Lois considered for a moment, then huffed and turned back for the kitchen again.

A few moments later, Clark returned. “Alright, the ladies have safely landed and will be along any moment. I’ve already taken their bags to their place for them. And tried to talk them both into staying there so we can all go over to see them, rather than make them come to us. But they’re being stubborn as always.”

“Freeze,” Lois reappeared, holding a new bottle of beer in front of him. Clark blew lightly on it again and Lois handed it to Alex, then sat down next to Martha, who was happily bouncing a giggling Jon on her knee.

“They made good time,” Alex mused thoughtfully as she glanced at her phone. “They must have left after we talked last night, or did they do aerial refuelings?”

“Actually,” Clark rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously, as he glanced to his wife. “They got a lift.”

The door opened, and a very small but concentratedly powerful Lucy Lane walked in with her army sack slung over her shoulder. “Okay, I’m here. The celebration can begin.”

Lois blinked, and it wouldn’t have been much of an exaggeration to say her jaw hit the floor. “What the fudgesicle are you doing here?!”

“You invited me, remember? Last year you told me to show up. It wasn’t optional, so here I am.” She slid her sack to the ground and walked over to Lois, arms crossed over her chest as she looked down at Jon. “Okay, he’s really cute. You sure he’s yours?”

“I see your sense of humor is still leaving a lot to be desired,” Lois smirked as she got up and hugged her sister tightly. “I’m glad you came. It was just a surprise, that’s all. We were expecting Kara and Lena.”

“They’re coming. Kara and I talked about it, and instead of having to touch down and refuel Lena’s helicopter or do aerial fuelings, I just requisitioned a military copter and picked the ladies up. It has a big enough tank to make it here with refueling. It seemed like a more reasonable solution given everything.”

“Bet the General threw a real bitch fit when he found out,” Lois smirked as she let her sister go and then offered her the seat on the sofa next to Martha so that Lucy could see her nephew. “I’ll get you a beer, and you can tell me all about it.”

“Hey there, little soldier,” Lucy said as she reached out and let Jon grab her finger. “Wow, that’s some grip. Clark, I’m not going to lose a finger here, am I?”

“I’m afraid I can’t make any promises,” Clark shrugged sheepishly.

“O-kay. How about giving Aunt Lucy her trigger finger back. Thanks. I don’t know how to fill out the paperwork on that one. Military property damaged by alien nephew. Yeah, that would be a new one… probably. So, he walking yet?”

“Not yet,” Clark shook his head. “Thankfully. He’s at that stage where if we put him down, we know he’ll stay there. Most of the time. In a few months time, the fun really begins though, and he’ll start turning into his mother.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lois frowned as she walked back in, held the bottle out to him and nodded to it. With an eye roll, Clark blew on this bottle just like all the others, and then Lois handed it to Lucy.

“It means he’ll be finding trouble, even when he’s not looking for it.”

“I don’t look for it either, you know.”

“You could have fooled me.”

“He’s got you there, Lois. You’ve literally made an award winning career out of finding trouble,” Lucy said.

Lois looked to everyone in the room, saw she was going to get zero support, and shrugged. “Hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. And I’m talking about talent right now, for any gutter minded individuals in this room, Clark Kent.”

“I never said anything!” He exclaimed, though his ears flushed bright pink anyway.

“Yes well Lena’s not in the room, and surprisingly you’re the next worst when it comes to innuendos and such. Speaking of which,” Lois looked all around the room as if looking for someone. “Where is Lenny? Thought you said she was coming?”

“I’m not the worst,” Clark grumbled quietly as he pushed his glasses up his nose. “At least not in public, anyway.”

As if on cue, the door opened, and Kara backed in, a pile of gifts precariously balanced on one arm and hanging from bags while her other arm extended to the other person still making their way into the house. “Be careful. There’s a teeny bit of ice right there. Do you see the ice? Watch out for the ice.”

“I see the damn ice, Kara. Just get out of my way. I have to pee,” Lena said as she waddled into the house almost a second behind her very extended abdomen. She was clearly pregnant, and though the general rule of thumb was never to assume a woman was pregnant unless you could see the head breaching, it would have been a fair assumption of even someone unaware to make in this case. She let go of Kara’s hand, swatting at her wife who tried to steady her as she placed a hand to her back and stretched a bit on her walk straight through the living room. “Merry Christmas, all. Priorities. Excuse me.”

“Merry Christmas Luthor! You know where the bathroom is,” Lois waved a hand, not even bothering to say anything else because she knew Lena’s current situation all too well to know that it was considerably unpleasant, and when you had to go, you really had to go.

Trotting along beside Lena was a medium sized dog, their ears perked and their head constantly turning so that they could look up at Lena, watching her every move with keen brown eyes. Their tail was carried high, and wagging lazily as they trotted along on dainty feet and long, slender legs, muscles rippling in their shoulders and thighs that suggested a hidden power beneath the black fur, black fur that was only broken by splashes of white. The largest patch of white stretched from the dog’s neck right down and under their belly to their hind legs, while a smaller white patch dotted just beneath their chin and their front paws had short white socks with black spots. Their back paws had much smaller white socks that barely reached further than the slightly elongated toes most commonly associated with whippets, greyhounds, salukis and other sighthounds. Indeed, the dog’s entire body shape - barrel chested at the front, then sweeping back to a long, slender abdomen that joined the powerful hindquarters to the muscular but very lean front quarters - was very reminiscent of a whippet in general. They were slightly larger than a whippet, however, but not quite as large as a greyhound. Somewhere in between.

“Stay,” Lena said as she hurried through the living room, and the dog froze on the spot, their head twisting left and right as they watched her leave.

“Want me to take off Moody’s collar?” Kara called out.

“Please!” Lena shouted back as she disappeared from view and headed up the stairs.

“Moody, come here. Moody, here, Moody. Moody.” Kara sighed heavily as the dog stared after Lena, not even a twitch of an ear in her direction. “Moody, do you want your collar off?”

Head swinging toward Kara, Moody spun and trotted over to her, sitting, shaking their head, and then leaning their head slightly forward which actually made the buckle more accessible.

“I swear,” Kara said as she unbuckled the collar, “your listening skills are far too convenient.”

As the collar came off, the image inducer on it also disengaged, and the true image of the creature appeared. Though their basic size and shape didn’t change much, that’s all that stayed the same. Where a dog had stood was now something entirely alien. Their face was a bit more vulpine with a long, pointy nose and ears and thin muzzle, but the hair, if it could be called that, covering the entire body, was white… usually. Occasionally, faint hues of color ran from their body out to the end of their hair like a light running along a wire thin optical cable. The shape of the legs remained basically like a dog’s, but the feet had four long toes, three facing forward and one on the heel pointing back. They had two tails that were twisted tightly together and hung loosely down from their body, giving the illusion of one singular tail unless you knew otherwise.

As soon as the collar was off, Moody turned their back on Kara and stood with ears and tail alert, watching the direction from which Lena had departed.

“She just has to pee, you know,” Kara said. “I think you’d be used to it by now.” Scooping up the presents from where she had deposited them on them floor, Kara began to distribute them underneath the tree. “Merry Christmas, all. Well, we’re here. Heh. Awesome.”

Jon, as soon as he saw Moody, had started to reach out his hands towards the alien dog, making little gripping gestures as he clenched and unclenched his fists. When none of the grown ups paid attention to what he wanted, he started to make noises that Lois often joked sounded like a monkey. Each noise was louder than the last until he was practically shouting at Moody to try and get their attention.

“Merry Christmas, Kara. Glad you could make it,” Clark smiled at his cousin. “We weren’t sure you would.”

“Moody, come here and say hi to Jon, please?” Lois sighed. “Otherwise he’s not going to stop. Oh and Merry Christmas Kara.”

Turning at their name, Moody trotted over to Jon and let the baby grab two handfuls of fur and erupt in happy babbles. In response, Moody, unfurled their tails and rubbed them together. The result was a noise a bit like a violin string being slowly strummed. There was an immediate response from the other room as barking erupted, and moments later, Krypto came racing in, tongue lolling out as he hopped up and down excitedly, still barking.

“Well, someone’s excited to see you, Moody,” Kara said and then added with a mumble, “There’s no accounting for taste.”

“There you are!” Lois exclaimed at the arrival of Krypto. “I see how it is. You ditch Mom and Dad to go off who knows where all day, then come running as soon as your BFF gets here? That’s loyalty for you.”

Jon erupted into even more giggles at the arrival of his other favorite dog and began to squirm in Martha’s arms, wanting to be put down.

“I think he’s getting stronger,” Martha said as she placed him to sit on the floor. “You two better watch out. This one will be an early walker.”

“Like Yours Truly,” Lois beamed proudly as she watched her son leaning forward and trying to reach both dogs with one hand as he propped himself up on the other. “Boys… uh, boy and Moody I mean, come here so Jon can play with you. Please?”

Moody trotted over with an excited Krypto right behind them, both coming within range of the ecstatic baby.

“Okay, explain to me why my dog listens to you,” Kara frowned.

“Because I’m Lois?” Lois shrugged. Then she pointed to Moody. “Remind me what pink means? Oh wait, make that green. No, wait, purple. No, wait… damn it Moody make up your mind!”

“They’re all good,” Kara said as Moody’s white fur shifted between a series of colors again, as Lois had said, going from its neutral white through pink, purple, and green then back to white again before shifting through the various shades again. “Pink is just generally happy or content. Purple means they want to play, and green means they’re excited. I expected we’ll see those colors a lot around Jon and Krypto. They’re two of Moody’s favorites.”

“I’m sure the same can be said of these two space dogs being Jon’s favorites as well,” Clark chuckled as he watched his son squeal playfully as he ran his hands through Krypto and Moody’s fur, then tried to catch Krypto’s wagging tail.

“And we all know Krypto is his own Lord and Master,” Lois shrugged. “Comes and goes when he chooses and has his own agenda.”

“Moody is definitely Lena’s,” Kara said. “They don’t seem to care for me much, and I’ve tried everything. I’m a little worried when the baby comes. I don’t know what we’re going to do if Moody is this… standoffish with our baby.”

“Sounds like somebody’s a little jealous,” Lois teased in a sing-song voice. “Come on, Kara, look, Moody’s great with Jon. They clearly have the capacity to love others, not just Lena. I think you’re just jealous that you’re not Lena’s favorite any more.”

“No I’m… ugh. I’m not jealous. I’m a concerned parent. That’s different. Anyway, you don’t know what it’s like living with Moody. You see this pet, the one that plays with your kid and listens when you call them. I get the one that eats my shoes, the left one, always the left one. I have never been happier that my supersuit is nanobot technology built into my glasses or that would have been eaten too, and there’d be videos of Supergirl saving people in a Pikachu onesie.”

Both Lucy and Lois burst out into explosive fits of laughter simultaneously, and even Clark chuckled behind one hand which he tried to turn into a coughing fit. After a moment to compose herself, Lois turned to Alex and held out her hand.

“Come on, Danvers, cough up. You owe me ten dollars. I clearly win this one.”

Grumbling, Alex pulled out her wallet and slid money to Lois.

“What’s going on?” Kara asked. “What did you bet on me about this time?”

As Lois pocketed the note, she smirked at Alex. “I’ll let you do the honors, Red.”

“For the record, I was betting on your side,” Alex said. “Lois here bet you were jealous of your pet… which you are. Thanks a lot.”

“I’m… I’m not jealous. We’ve talked about this, Alex. Dogs love me. This is not a dog. Moody is… Moody is trying to usurp my place in the household.”

“Kara—”

“No, I’m serious. I don’t think Moody understands who’s in charge.”

“You mean Lena?” Lucy said.

“She’s got you there, Kara,” Lois smirked as she picked up her own beer that she’d had much earlier but hadn’t actually gotten round to drinking yet, and held it out to her sister. They clinked the necks of their bottles lightly together, allies in arms sitting side by side on the sofa. A far cry from the Lane Sisters they’d been the previous year before they’d called their truce.

“Okay, you know you’re in trouble if the Lane sisters are agreeing,” Kelly said. “That’s Psychology 101.”

Suddenly, Moody stopped playing and stood still, ears on alert and head facing the direction of the stairs. Seconds later, Lena made her reappearance.

“Okay, take two on Christmas Greetings. Merry Christmas, all.” She smiled brightly, embracing each family member who rose to greet her on her trip over to the couch as pleasantries were exchanged before she sat with Kara’s assistance. “I wasn’t sure we’d make it here today. Lucky for us we didn’t end up overnighting in a stable, right Kara?”

“Please don’t joke about that, sweetie. Let’s just get through the next two days and then maybe talk again inducing, okay?”

“We have no idea what inducing could do to a hybrid child,” Alex said.

“This baby will come out when they’re ready.” Lena put a hand over her abdomen. “Though we are going to discuss keeping schedules, little one. We make them for a reason, and we keep them for the same reason. Lois, Jon was fairly punctual, wasn’t he? I realize you can’t track his conception to the exact second, but there wasn’t any of this nonsense going on, was there?”

“Nope,” Lois stood up slowly, eyeing Lena’s belly before catching herself and looking away quickly, one hand rising to tug at her collar for a moment without her even consciously aware of the action. “He was two days early.”

“You okay, hon?” Clark asked, watching her.

“Uh huh. Just going to check on the food. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Clark waited until she was out of the room, then sighed and pulled out his wallet, handing over ten dollars to Alex. “You were right. She’s hiding something. How did I not see that before?”

“Because you’re all truth and justice while I work for a secret government agency. Seeing what people don’t want me to see is my job. What me to find out what it is? It will cost you.”

“Alex.” Kelly shook her head. “Do you want me to talk to her, Clark, as a friend?”

Clark glanced around at the others in the room, then very slowly nodded his head. “Please?”

Picking up her glass, Kelly hastily drained it. “I’m just going to get a refill from the kitchen. I’ll be right back.”

In the kitchen, Lois was busying herself with a number of foods on the stovetop. Delicious aromas rose through the air, mixing and promising a scrumptious dinner. Kelly inhaled deeply, smiling before pulling the water jug from the refrigerator and refiling her glass.

“Everything smells amazing, Lois. Can I give you a hand?”

Lois jumped slightly at the sound of Kelly’s voice, having been in a world of her own as she’d worked. “Oh! Kelly, you should know better than to sneak up on a Lane. We’re fight girls, not flight girls.”

“Sorry. You’d think dating Alex would have trained me to make more noise. I’ve startled her a few times and ended up pinned to a wall and,” Kelly smirked, “Okay, maybe that’s not so bad. Anyway, I apologize. Can I lend you a hand with anything in here?”

“Thanks I’m good, but,” Lois paused, and considered. “Actually, could you come stir this for me for a sec?” She motioned to a pot of sauce. “I need to mush some carrots for Jon before he starts screaming the house down like a hangry kryptonian.”

“Of course.” Kelly did as she was asked, occasionally stirring the berries that were in the highly sugared water to keep them from burning. “Do you make all of your own food for him?”

“As much as we can,” Lois nodded as she took the pot of boiled carrots off the stove, drained the excess water in the sink then transferred the carrots to a bowl so that she could mush them. “It’s better than all the processed crap you find in the shops. Plus we farm a lot of it here, so there’s no shortage of vegetables we can use.”

When she was done, she set the bowl of mush to one side to let it cool, then scraped up the carrot tops and the peelings that she’d removed from the carrots before cooking them, but hadn’t got round to disposing of, just yet. “Moody! Krypto! Come get it!”

There was a loud woof from the other room, and the sounds of scamperings were followed by clicking toenails on the kitchen floor as Moody and Krypto trotted into the room, both alert and Moody green in tint.

“Why are they green?” Kelly asked as she turned off the burner under the sauce to let it cool.

Lois shrugged as she asked both dogs to sit, then give her their paw in turn before feeding them the carrot scraps. “Damned if I know. Kara says it’s good though. Maybe it means they’re excited?”

Moody’s tongue extended, long enough to wrap partway around Lois’ wrist, before withdrawing back into their mouth. They shifted back to pink and headbutted Lois’ thigh.

“Um… you’re welcome?” Lois guessed, though she still had no idea what the colors actually meant.

“Too bad you didn’t come with an owner’s manual,” Kelly said as she scratched behind Moody’s ears, causing them to push up into the attention as the pink color intensified. “Yup, that’s a good color. I have no idea why Kara can’t get along with you. I wish everyone was as easy to read as you are, Moody. When people need something, they just need to be clear like this, right, Lois?”

Lois, who’d been making a fuss of Krypto, looked up in confusion. “Huh? What was that? Who needs to be clear about what?”

“I was just saying that Moody is never circumspect in their desires. People often try and hide what they’re feeling, maybe thinking they’re protecting others, but it can often make things worse. I just think the world would be a little better if we could all be more honest like Moody.”

“Yeah but unfortunately, it’s not that simple,” Lois shrugged as she stood up again and picked up the bowl of carrots, intending to divide the contents into several smaller tupperware pots to keep in the fridge for whenever Jon needed feeding. “Sometimes people think and feel stuff, and there’s no easy way for them to tell anyone else, so they just don’t.”

“Maybe there’s no easy way for them to tell their partner or parent, but sometimes a friend, someone that isn’t as close to the situation, can help.” Kelly scratched further behind Moody’s head, and their tails untwisted and rubbed making a chirping noise. “Talking about things, getting them out in the open, it sheds light on them. Sometimes we find out they’re not as big and scary as we thought they were.”

“Maybe you should try telling that to your brother and my sister. Maybe if they’d been more open with one another, they’d never have split,” Lois suggested as she turned to put the smaller pots in the fridge, all save for one that she kept out and after testing it’s temperature with her pinky finger, she gave the pot (with the lid firmly on) to Moody. “Can you take this to Mrs. K, please?”

Taking the container in their mouth, Moody trotted out of the room.

Kelly watched them go. “James and Lucy, huh?”

“Oh come on, Kelly, even you have to agree they made a great couple.”

“Agree? I introduced Lucy to my brother. I thought they were perfect for each other, and then they split up. I never understood that. I thought I’d be picking out my dress for the wedding.”

“Clark was already starting to panic over his best man speech,” Lois grinned as she noticed that while Moody had gone off to complete the task they’d been given, Krypto was still sitting staring up at Lois with his big puppy dog eyes. “Go on, shoo. You’re not having anything else. Get out of here.” She gave him an affectionate rub behind the ears then pointed to the door of the kitchen. “Out.”

Krypto whined and offered her his paw, but she folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “Nope. Out. Go on.”

With a huff, the dog reluctantly got up and padded out, pausing in the doorway once to look back, tail wagging lightly.

“Out!”

He vanished back into the other room to go and find his friend.

“And less of the attitude!” Lois called after him, before turning back to Kelly. “Sorry, you were saying?”

“Um… I agree with you about James and Lucy. James isn’t seeing anyone right now. What about your sister?”

“My sister’s a pain in the ass Army Major. Nobody else has ever been bold or stupid enough to try. No offense to Jimmy, of course. He’s a great guy and the only one Lucy has ever been truly happy with. Which is why they should get back together. And I think it’s up to us, as their dutiful siblings, to help them.”

“Lois, as a therapist, I’m not really sure it’s my business to be meddling in the love lives of other adults.” Kelly shrugged, an odd look crossing her face before she smiled broadly. “But as James’ sister, it is Christmas, and he does get awfully mopey around the holidays. He’s alone with Mom this year, and he’s planning to spend New Year’s covering the ball dropping in Metropolis. He could do with some company.”

“Challenge accepted,” Lois grinned. “So, what’s our plan of action?”

“Ahem.” From the doorway, Alex stuck her head in. “Hey, rather than grab one of Jon’s bibs from his room, is it okay if I put this one on him? Kelly and I got it.” In one hand, Alex held out a red bib that in white and yellow letters said, ‘What idiot put my Super baby cape on backwards?’ The S in super was in the crest for the House of El.

“That’s adorable!” Lois beamed as she saw it. “Take pictures!”

In her other hand, Alex held her phone forward. “Way ahead of you.” Leaving the other women to conspire in the kitchen, Alex rather giddily rejoined the others in the room. “Hey, buddy, look what Aunty Alex has for you. It’s an awesome bib. Let’s just get this on you and get some pictures before you cover it with carrots, alright?” Once it was on, she snapped a few photos and sat back, smiling and taking pictures while Martha fed him. “Let me know if you want me to take over.”

“I will, Alex.”

“It’s no problem.”

“I know, Alex.”

“I like taking care of Jon.”

With a sigh, Martha held out the container of carrots.

“Oh, only if you’re sure,” Alex said.

“Just feed him before he comes over here and takes the food.”

“Kara, darling,” Lena said, “would you get my drink from my bag?”

“Of course, babe.” Kara stood, leaning around the side of the couch to grab the drink that sat in the side pouch of Lena’s bag, and by the time she’d turned around, her seat had been filled by a bright pink alien quadruped. “Hey, that’s my seat.”

“Five second rule,” Lena said, taking the drink. “Thank you, darling.”

“That wasn't even three seconds.”

Lena gently stroked down Moody’s body while their tails unwound and rubbed together, trilling in a series of high-pitched chirps. “Moody can't tell time.”

“I'm pretty sure Moody could set a timer on a delayed incendiary device if it suited them.”

“Well, now you're just being dramatic.” Lena patted the empty seat on her other side. “Come sit over here next to me. There’s plenty of room in my life for the both of you.”

“You hear that, Moody? She’s got enough love for the both of us.” When Moody’s tail shifted briefly through gold, Kara sputtered. “Lena! Lena, did you see that? They’re jealous. See, they’re jealous.”

“They’re saying that you’re jealous, Kara. Is that it, Moody? Is Kara being a jealous little jelly bean?”

“Yes cousin, don’t be a jelly bean,” Clark smirked. And then the smile faltered. “Sorry, that was unnecessary. I apologise, Kara.”

“Hey, you are what you eat.” Kara shrugged then, an unusual, almost sinister smile on her face as she grabbed her bag from behind the couch, opened it, and pulled out a tupperware container. Peeling back the cover revealed sliced kiwi fruit. “Hey, Moody, want some?”

The tip of Moody’s tails turned black, and they snuggled in closer to Lena.

“Kara,” Lena wrapped a protective arm around Moody, “this is why you two aren’t getting on. All of the food, everything on this planet, and we’ve found one thing Moody won’t eat. Why do you have to taunt them.”

“Hey, I didn’t fire the first shots. I’m defending myself.” Kara shoved two slices of kiwi into her mouth. “Anyway, kiwi is delicious. Moody has no taste.”

“They love me.”

“And kale.” Kara shook her head. “It’s weird.”

“Lena, I know it’s Christmas and we really shouldn’t be talking about work, but I was hoping to coordinate with your security team on that incident at L-Corp in early November. We got a hit on an associate of one of the men involved in the attack. He has ties to your brother,” Alex said.

“Ugh, of course, he does.”

“What incident?” Lucy asked. “I didn’t see anything in the news about it. If someone got away with some sort of technology, and you guys hushed it up, the military should have been notified.”

“It was a non-incident,” Lena said. “Moody was there, and we handled things ourselves, didn’t we darling?”

At the kind words and gentle petting, Moody shifted back to all pink again.

“Lena, a half-dozen highly organized professionals tried to kidnap you from your business,” Alex said. “That’s an incident.”

“They weren’t that organized,” Kara said. “Highly organized criminals would have pursued a target who wasn’t Kryptonian enhanced and didn’t have an alien dog. These guys were, frankly, kind of dumb.”

“This sounds like story time. Clark, have you heard this one yet?” Lucy asked.

“Can’t say that I have,” Clark shook his head. “Who wants drinks to go with this story time?”

There were positive responses from a few folks, and Clark left and returned with drinks before Alex launched into her tale.

“I wasn’t there until after the incident, but I interviewed the assailants and reviewed the security surveillance. Given Lena’s current not entirely terrestrial nature, this became DEO jurisdiction.”

“Makes sense,” Lucy said. “What exactly happened?”

“Some poor saps thought they were going to kidnap a pregnant human woman and bit off more than they could chew, right babe?” Kara said.

“Fairly accurate. Moody alerted me even before they entered the office. You know that high-pitched whine that saws back and forth?”

“The one that keens?” Kara asked.

“No, that one’s annoyance.”

“Oh… Yeah, that figures,” Kara said.

“Anyway, there’s a noise Moody makes which signals danger. I’ve only heard it once before, and it was… Say nothing, Kara. It was heading to the podium at a press conference. I mean it, Kara, nothing.”

“What, I’m not saying anything.”

“You’re thinking it rather loudly. I can see it on your face. Never play poker. At any rate, Moody made that noise once before and wouldn’t let me proceed. I ended up having to head back to my office while security did a second sweep, and they found a bomb.” Lena nuzzled into Moody, scritching them while Moody’s pink color intensified. “You did, didn’t you? You found a bomb and saved Mommy’s life, didn’t you?”

“Um, I was right there too. I would have found the bomb and saved you,” Kara said.

“Of course, you would have.” Lena reached out with her free hand, taking Kara’s hand in her own and rubbing her thumb over the back. “So that day in my office, I knew immediately that I was in danger when I heard the noise. I pressed the button on my watch, but Kara was off continent. I knew I needed to stall for a few minutes before she could arrive. That’s when the group of men crashed into my office, all armed.”

“Holy fuck,” Lucy said. “What did you do?”

“I tried to keep my desk between them and me and keep them talking. They weren’t interested in chatting though. They said they wanted to get me out of the building before Supergirl arrived, and they had eyes on her in Asia.”

Grimacing, Kara squeezed Lena’s hand and slid in closer. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“We’re fine, all three of us. You can’t always be there, Kara. That’s why you got Moody.” Lena pulled Kara’s hand to her lips, kissing it gently. “I’d planned to just go with the men. This wasn’t exactly my first kidnapping, and I still had my watch. I knew Kara would find us. They briefly discussed what to do with Moody, and I stepped between them and let them know I wouldn’t make trouble if they left Moody alone. Then one of them stuck the barrel of their weapon in my abdomen and threatened me… us, and I… Well, quite frankly, I just snapped.”

“Snapped is a pretty damn good description based on what the security footage showed,” Alex said. “Kara called us as soon as she heard Lena’s watch. She was literally holding a building up. Those guys had coordinated the kidnapping perfectly with their people overseas, but we were only a few minutes out. By the time we got there, Lena was sitting at her desk. Moody was lounging on the floor like they didn’t have a care in the world, and there was a pile of guys that we needed to take directly to Med Lab.”

“I am sorry about that, Alex, but—”

“Oh, hell no. If someone points a weapon at my niece or nephew, you just saved me some sore knuckles by kicking their asses. Lena, you were fantastic. I found a group of cadets watching that video and eating popcorn in one of the conference rooms, and I just let them. When that last guy ran away, and then you came walking back into your office dragging him by the ankle while he clawed at the carpet and begged.” Smiling, Alex shuddered. “It was a bit like a horror movie if you’re cheering for the monster… no offense.”

“None taken but I think I’ll leave the hero business to you and Kara. I had to reschedule two meetings that day. What a bother.”

“You really kicked ass, Luthor?” Lucy asked.

“We really kicked ass.” She ruffled behind Moody’s ears. “This little one is much faster than they were expecting and has an incredible defensive streak. It was a team effort, wasn’t it, my love?”

“They’re your love?” Kara asked.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Kara.” Lena leaned in, kissing Kara’s cheek. “I have enough love for both of you.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Of course, you’re not.” Lena struggled forward on the couch, tugging at Kara’s hand. “Help me up, please.”

“Bathroom again already?” Kara helped Lena to her feet.

“I just need to stand for a bit. That was a long flight over, shorter thanks to Lucy, but still long. I’m just going to check on Lois and see what mischief she’s up to.” When Moody lifted their head, Lena said, “Moody stay. Behave for Kara. Kara, you behave too. I love you both.”

“But me a little more right? Right?” As Lena stretched her back and left without replying, Kara looked down at Moody who shifted to gold. “No, you’re jealous.”

“What are you getting up to in here, Miss Lane?” Lena asked as she entered the kitchen.

“Just chatting with Kelly here,” Lois shrugged nonchalantly, the picture of perfect innocence as she leaned back against one worktop, a bottle of beer in hand. “What have you been getting up to in there?”

“Keeping Kara and Moody separate. I swear, I feel like I’m about to have my third child.” She patted her abdomen. “Jon looks fantastic, and he certainly likes his carrots. Alex is in her element with him.”

“Yes, she’s been very clear about wanting children. It’s just a matter about timing now,” Kelly said.

“What about you?” Lena asked. “I’m assuming that’s on the table for you also.”

“Definitely, but I think our relationship has slowed Alex down a bit on parenthood. She was so ready to be a mom, but then I stumbled into her life, and the real possibility of someone who could be a parent with her came along. We both had to take a step back and evaluate our situations, separately and together.”

“There’s no rush, you know,” Lois shook her head, then took a sip of her beer. “You guys will become parents when you’re ready. And in the meantime, if you ever want the practice, I’m sure we could let you borrow Jon.”

“Alex would jump at that. I’ve stopped reminding her I follow you and Clark on Instagram and just let her show me his pictures that you post. It makes her happy.” Looking over at Lena who was staring at the ceiling, Kelly asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Hmmm? Oh, no, it’s just helicopters.”

“I don’t hear anything,” Lois said.

Lena tapped at her ear. “You won’t for a bit, but as you’ll remember, with the pregnancy comes certain perks. Heightened senses is among them. Lucy said she was bringing a present for both households via helicopter. I don’t know what it is, but Eliza and Martha were somehow involved.”

“It’s a gift conspiracy,” Lois said.

Lena chuckled. “Apparently. Lucy also said she’d need Clark and Kara to set it up and at least Eliza is needed to supervise. I think Martha needs to go sign some paperwork. I’ll go back and make sure Alex doesn’t need any help with Jon.”

“No, let me. Lois, let’s talk more later.” Kelly reached out, squeezing Lois’ hand. “Lena, you look amazing. I’m looking forward to baby Luthor-Danvers pictures.”

“You’ll get them.” When Kelly left, Lena stretched her back again and leaned back on the counter. “You doing alright with Jon? You seemed… You were off after he was born. I don’t feel like we’ve been talking as much as we used to, and this little one is keeping me plenty busy.”

Lois took a much longer gulp of her beer this time, before setting it carefully down on the worktop. “The bigger question is, how are you doing? Have you called the therapist yet? For after?”

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to, but I’ve been so busy and just exhausted. I didn’t know how tired I could get until I was pregnant. I’ll call after the baby is born if I feel like talking to someone.”

“Lena,” Lois stood up, stepped forward and took both of Lena’s hands in her own, fixing her with a deadly serious look that held no hint of Lois’ usual spark or humor. “Call them. Trust me on this. Please?”

“Lois, I do trust you, and I appreciate your concern, but Luthors, we’re not really therapy people. I’m just looking forward to the day when I can drink again.” Lena chuckled. “That’s my kind of therapy.”

“Lena,” Lois groaned, “this isn’t a joke. Please. Listen to me. This isn’t a normal baby you’re carrying now. Don’t make the same naive mistake that I did. Get that therapist sorted now. I’m begging you.”

“Hey,” Lena squeezed Lois’ hands in return, “I know your hormones dropped off quite a bit after the baby was born. The alien letdown, wasn’t pleasant, but Alex and Eliza have done an amazing job in creating hormone supplements to gradually step me down after the baby is born. I’ll check my blood daily. It will be fine.”

“Lena.” Her eyes closed, Lois took a shaky breath.

“Lois, is there something you aren’t telling me? Did something happen I don’t know about?”

There were several moments of silence, and then Lois broke out into her familiar broad, if slightly strained and not quite meeting her eyes, smile. “Just call the therapist before I do it for you. Because if that happens, I’ll start telling them all the stuff you admit when you’re drunk, okay? Now, as your very curious BFF, I cannot believe you haven’t told me the gender of this not so little bun in your oven. What are we having here?”

Lois shrugged.

“Seriously? One of the greatest and most inquisitive minds of our time, and you have no idea? I know you’ve had ultrasounds. Tell me you haven’t peeked.”

“Lois, I know the sex of the baby.”

“Well, okay then.” Lois leaned in closer. “Go ahead. I won’t tell. I can keep a secret for, what, two maybe three days… if we’re lucky.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, Kara and I are not taking part in any sort of heteronormative gender reveal tradition. Krypton didn’t revolve around gender normative culture, and I reject the same norms. We know the sex but not the baby’s gender.”

“And… I have no idea what you just said. Do you or don’t you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

“Lois, you do know the difference between sex and gender, don’t you?”

“One starts with an S and the other with a J?”

Lena sighed. “I still can’t believe you write words professionally. Lois, I know the child’s biological sex. I know if on the birth certificate I’ll be putting male,” She watched as Lois’ face lit up, “or female,” and then relaxed as nothing was made clearer. “Gender isn’t as simple as anatomy. Look at Moody.”

“Yeah, but Moody isn’t human.”

“Neither is Kara.”

“Okay, true, but Kara is female.”

“I know. She told me she was, but that’s her gender, and it isn’t the same as her sex. They happen to match up, but that isn’t always true. Perhaps Kara could have realized that Kara was a male or that Kara didn’t really fit into either binary gender. Understand?”

“With you? Rarely.”

“Perhaps we’ll have a son that will someday tell us we have a daughter or a daughter that will explain to us that we don’t have a daughter, we have a… child for whom we should use the pronouns they and them.” Lena waited while multiple expressions crossed Lois’ face.

“So on the belly button issue, innie or outie, you know what you’re getting, but the kid is gonna tell you if you have a boy or a girl?”

“I suppose. Does it really matter?”

“No, but you do a really good job of confusing me. Just tell me boy or girl and if that changes or other or whatever, okay? If I mess up, explain it to me again… and again… and again. Nothing is ever simple with you, Lenny,” she wrapped her arms around Lena, hugging her as closely as she could with the considerable baby bump in the way, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

As Lena chuckled and held Lois (carefully, considering she was now the one with the super strength, as Lois no longer possessed hers), Alex stuck her head into the kitchen. “Hey Lois, what’s Jon’s favorite toy?”

“His stuffed otter,” Lois replied as she and Lena parted from their hug.

“Thanks,” Alex smiled and nodded, then ducked out of the room.

“So, doesn’t it mean you’re gonna have a really hard time picking names for…” Lois motioned to Lena’s belly. “I mean, what if you decide to call her Elsa and one day she decides that she’s actually Toby?”

“Then we call him Toby.”

“Yeah but what if—”

Alex’s head appeared through the doorway again. “Does Jon still really like mirrors?”

“He does. And they love him just as much as they love his mama,” Lois beamed proudly.

“Cool, great, carry on,” Alex nodded again then left.

“So Toby isn’t an Elsa any more but what if he isn’t a he either?”

“Then they’re a they or a them. They decide what they want to be or who they are, and Kara and I will love them regardless.”

Alex ducked back into the kitchen, squeezing past the two women as she glanced all around for a moment before spotting the cupboard where the broom was kept. “Can I just, um…” She grabbed the broom, waved at them both quickly as she ducked back past, then left again.

Lois and Lena glanced at each other.

“What do you think is going on in there?” Lois wondered.

“Who knows,” Lena said. “It’s pretty quiet.”

Lois glanced at Lena and smirked. “Motherhood 101, Lenny - silence is golden, unless you have kids. Then silence is suspicious.” She nodded towards the kitchen door as she picked up her bottle of beer off the counter top again. “Care to take bets on what we’ll find?”

“Bet with a Lane?” Lena pushed off the counter. “The only fool my mother raised is serving thirty-one consecutive life sentences. Lead me to your trouble.”

Lois stepped from the kitchen, holding the door for Lena before they both glanced at the situation that greeted them. Namely Alex balancing on the back of the sofa with the broom extended toward the ceiling to reach something while Kelly stood nearby, her arms outstretched as if ready to catch said something. Lucy sat in one of the other chairs, smirking up at them with a highly amused expression as she watched the antics with all the mischievous glee that most people usually associated with her older sister.

As they moved closer, it became clear that the ‘something’ on the ceiling that Alex was trying to reach was Jon. He was lying flat on his back with a broad smile on his face and a line of drool stretching perilously down from his mouth, the only part of him that seemed to be affected by gravity (much to Kelly’s apparent dismay). There was a discarded otter toy and a mirror on the floor below where Krypto danced about merrily, upping the difficulty level on the baby retrieval even more. Just when things didn’t seem to be able to get any stranger, Moody (who was now green with spikes of purple) came walking upside down along the ceiling, clinging to one of the timbers with their oddly long toes, making things even more challenging for the ladies below.

Lois sighed and took a sip of her beer, before turning to Lena. “See? I told you. Silence is suspicious.”

“The ceiling,” Lena said blinking repeatedly, “your child is on the ceiling.”

“Uh huh,” Lois nodded calmly. “He does that.”

“The ceiling,” Lena repeated, her hand coming to rest on her own distended abdomen.

“So’s your dog,” Lois pointed out, using the bottle in her hand to indicate Moody. “They seem quite happy though. Green means happy, right? Or is green excited? I swear you need to make some kind of color chart for them, some day. Although with those purple spikes, they’re kind of rocking your brother’s colors. That’s not such a good look.”

“I,” Lena waved her free hand around, “they’re feeling excited and playful. This happens with them sometimes, the ceiling I mean, but I never thought the baby… Moody, down.”

Immediately, Moody twisted and fell to the floor.

“Moody, heel.”

Moody trotted over to Lena, head up and fur changing to blue.

“No, you’re not in any trouble,” Lena said as she reached out and stroked them, Moody’s fur turning pink with the passing of her hand. “You’re such a good love. Good listening, Moody. Mommy’s proud of you.”

“Can someone get Jon to heel?!” Alex exclaimed as she teetered on the arm of the couch. Then Jon laughed and began to roll across the ceiling in the opposite direction, along the length of the couch, and Alex took off after him. “Oh, for God’s sake. Just come down already, kid!”

Off to the side, Lucy snickered. “You know, I thought he looked more like Clark, but now I’m seeing the resemblance, Lois.”

“Awww, Lucy, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Lois beamed in pride, positively glowing at her sister’s words. She watched Alex reach the opposite end of the couch and try to reach for Jon again, took one last sip of her beer then held the bottle out to Lena. “Hold my beer.” Turning away, she disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Did you just… Hold your beer?” Lena said, sputtering as she stared from Lois’ passage to the bottle in her hand.

A few moments later (during which time Jon had successfully rolled even further out of Alex’s reach and toward the kitchen), Lois returned again and looked up to her son. “Hey, Jonny Boy, want one of these?” She held out a teething cookie for him to see, and Jon squealed in delight, dropping instantly from the ceiling and into Lois’ outstretched, waiting arms. She caught him with ease, and he immediately began gumming and sucking on the cookie, now safely snuggled in his mother’s arms once more.

Within moments, Krypto and Moody had arrived to sit near Lois’ feet. Krypto whimpered slightly as he looked up at Lois with pleading eyes. Moody shifted in color yet again, this time turning teal as they waited and stared.

“Oh, you guys want some too?” Lois smiled down at them both as she shifted Jon into one arm, then pulled out a packet from the back pocket of her jeans with her free hand, managed to tip one cookie from the packet onto the floor at Krypto’s feet, and then dropped the foil packet, along with the last remaining cookie still inside it, at Moody’s feet.

As Krypto gobbled up his cookie, Moody’s long tongue snaked out and they grabbed the cookie, packet and all, and hauled it into their mouth where it disappeared after just a few quick chews leaving a happy, and pink, Moody.

“Lena, your dog is weird,” Lucy said.

“My dog is efficient,” Lena said looking even paler than usual. “Why didn’t you come and get Lois for that situation?”

Lucy shrugged. “Eh, I offered, but Alex said she had it under control. I'd hate to see what out of control looks like.”

“Who’s out of control?” Clark asked as he and Kara stepped back through the front door, brushing a light dusting of snow off their shoulders and stamping the snow from their boots onto the doormat before taking their boots off completely so that they could rejoin the others. “And hows my Little Champ doing?”

“Being a nuisance,” Lois smirked.

“Just like his mother then,” Clark grinned.

“How’s my little champ and their mama?” Kara kissed Lena’s cheek. “Are you okay, sweetie? You look like extra pale. Are you eating enough? You know you need to eat a lot.”

“I know how to eat, Kara. I’ve been pregnant for like eighty-two years now.”

Kara glanced over at Clark, who offered her a look of sympathy, before nodding at her wife. “Of course you do. I just worry. What do you need?”

“Our child to obey the laws of physics.”

“What did I miss?” Kara asked as she glanced over at Lois, her brows rising as she looked more closely at Jon. “We have cookies?”

“I have bribes,” Lois corrected. “Because this little troublemaker was on the ceiling. Again.”

Kara looked at Clark, and they both broke into broad smiles before zipping to the ceiling, their back flush with the timbers and they grinned down below.

“Like this?” Kara asked.

“Oh for fu-” Lois stopped herself in time, pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes briefly. “Get down, you big babies. And stop encouraging Jon!”

“But… but… cookies,” Kara said.

Lois walked over to Alex and passed Jon over. “Hold my baby.”

Then she stalked back out into the kitchen, taking her bottle of beer from Lena on the way, only to return a few moments later with yet more cookies. She threw the packet up to Clark who caught it with a big grin.

“So, what drew you two ceiling fans outside?” Lois asked. “Lena said it was something about a helicopter and a Christmas gift from Lucy.”

“Why are we… Oh, we’re on the ceiling like ceiling fans and we’re fans of the ceiling. Clever.” Clark passed two cookies to Kara and dropped one down to Krypto and one to Moody who were begging below. “I’ll let Lucy explain since she was part of the gift. Mom and Eliza should be in shortly.”

Lois tilted her head toward her sister. “I don’t usually like surprises from you.”

“You don’t usually get anything from me.”

“That’s true. So what is it?”

“Military grade weapon defense system,” Lucy said rolling her eyes as Lois’ face clouded over. “Jeez, you weren’t kidding. You don’t like surprises.”

“You put military weapons in my backyard around my family?” Hands on her hips, Lois rose up to her tiptoes as she glared up at Clark and Kara. “And you two geniuses helped her?”

“I’m sure glad we’re up here.” Kara reached over, pulling another cookie from the packet and shoving it in her mouth.

“It’s not a weapon, Lois,” Lucy clarified. “It’s a weapon defense system. It’s built into the NDG, the National Defense Grid, and provides an energy barrier against ballistic weapon attack within a certain meter radius. We’ve erected one in every state as a prototype, each camouflaged to blend in with its surroundings. The one between yours and the Luthor-Danvers Farm looks like a wheat silo.”

Lois frowned, studying her sister. “The NDG? I’ve never heard of it.”

“And you still haven’t. Let’s keep it that way.”

“Huh. You understand any of this science talk, Lenny?”

Laying back on the couch with one arm laying over her eyes and Moody, who was now aqua, curled up next to her, Lena said, “Think big forcefield from Star Wars that stops missiles.”

“Man, I know we’re in trouble when she’s the one who’s speaking English. Cool, so we scored a force field. Thanks, Luce. How’d you swing that?”

“You can thank your local Senator for getting the location passed. I pushed your security clearance through… and pushed… and pushed… and… Dear God, Lois, is there anyone you haven’t pissed off?”

Lois struck a pose, standing upright with a very serious expression on her face and deadpanned. “I have a very particular set of skills.”

Even as Lucy laughed and shook her head, she said, “You certainly do. Just stay away from the ‘wheat silo’, okay? This is the only one in your state, and I’m still not sure you won’t break your husband and dog. Indestructible doesn’t mean to Lois Lane-Kent what it means to regular people.”

“I don’t believe in things I can’t spell.”

“Dear God in Heaven,” Lena said without looking up. “That certainly explains a lot.”

“Oh, one more thing.” Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out a metal box about four inches across and maybe an inch and a half high. It had a red light, which was not currently lit, and seemed to be a speaker. “This is the early alert system.”

“To warn us of a missile attack?” Lois took the box, judging the weight which was a bit heavier than expected. “Thanks.”

“That and other major attacks on the country. This wasn’t a completely benevolent gift. Right now, Superman and Supergirl get their alerts on TV like the rest of the general public. With this, they’ll get real time alerts as soon as the government knows about them. If something hits our air space, we know, and you know.”

“The early alert system.” Smiling, Alex bounced Jon on her knee, ignoring the cookie that had been smeared across her shirt. “We have that in the DEO. It lets us stop the bad guys and protect the good guys. Yes it does. We stop those bad guys. Yes we do.” She pretended to try and eat Jon’s cookie, and he giggled loudly as he pulled it back.

“The shield will protect your families, but the system will also alert Superman and Supergirl of dangers across the country. If there’s a sizable earthquake or a terrorist attack, the alarm will go off.”

“You better not wake my kid,” Lois scowled.

Lena stuck a hand up from the back of the couch. “Second that.”

“It’s not that bad. This thing doesn’t go off for every local emergency. If you hear the alarm, the Supers would have been involved anyway. They’ll just be involved faster, and lives will be saved.”

Dropping down from the ceiling, Clark pulled Lucy into a hug. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Why did you marry a hugger, Lois?” Lucy patted Clark’s back but didn’t try to pull away. “Eliza is installing one at Kara and Lena’s place. She had a lot to do with the communication network for these things. It was something about neural networks and brain mapping. It’s all computers, so it makes no sense to me, but your mom is really smart, Alex.”

Alex kept talking in a high-pitched somewhat baby voice as she played with Jon. “It runs in the family. Yes it does. Give me that cookie.”

“Speak of the devil,” Lois said when the door opened and Eliza and Martha came in.

“Who’s the devil?” Kara asked as she glided down to stand next to her cousin.

“It’s a figure of speech.” Lois shook her head. “Jeez, Luthor, train your alien. I’ve got my hands full with my two.”

“My hands are quite full also,” Lena replied, gently patting her belly, “and soon to get fuller.”

Hugs and thanks were exchanged, and Eliza explained how the early alert system worked and held Jon while Alex installed the one in the Kent Farm. Things were winding down, and Lois returned to the kitchen with Kelly offering to assist.

“I didn’t take you for much of a cook, no offense.”

“None taken,” Kelly replied. “I can cook, but I’m more interested in the human mind than the palate. Actually, I was hoping to continue our conversation from earlier.”

“Ah, secret stuff. I love it.” Lois opened the oven, pulling out the turkey to baste it. “What conversation?”

“The one about your sister and my brother.”

“Gotcha. Okay, I’m caught up. You want to talk about their breakup?”

“No, I want to talk about getting them back together.”

Lois finished up with the turkey, closing the oven again before she rose and smiled at Kelly. “Now this is the kind of conspiracy I can get behind. Lucy and I haven’t been particularly close, but I did see her with James a few times. She was happy, really happy. After they broke up, she threw herself into her work, and I saw even less of her. As far as I know, she hasn’t dated anyone since. What about James?”

“I think my brother made a mistake when he split up with Lucy. Well, perhaps not necessarily a mistake per se. He was feeling something for someone else, and he was honest about that. That’s better than lying to himself or Lucy or doing something to destabilize the inherent trust they’d established.”

Lois frowned as she stared at Kelly. “Do you mean cheat?”

“Yes.”

“Cripes. Why do all of my friends have doctorates? I feel like I need a thesaurus just to understand you people and I can’t even spell thesaurus.”

Kelly chuckled. “Sorry. James was honest which I think was for the best, but in the long run, I think he should have tried to get back with your sister. Just because he was uncertain for a time doesn’t mean he ever fell out of love with her.”

“James is still in love with Lucy?”

“Well, I can’t speak for someone else’s feelings but… He still has her pictures in his phone, and he tells stories about her. We all know what a photographer James is, but there’s keeping pictures of your ex and there’s keeping framed pictures of your ex hanging on your living room wall… and one in your bedroom.”

“Jeez! Let’s just plan the wedding and invite them.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Elbow on the counter, Kelly leaned forward. “So what I was thinking was—”

“There you are.” Alex smiled as her gaze fell on Kelly, but that smile wavered as she looked over at Lois. “Okay, what trouble are you getting my girlfriend into?”

“Moi?” Lois asked, the picture of innocence. “Dunno what you’re talking about Danvers.”

“I know you’re lying, Lane. Your lips are moving.”

“Alex.” Sighing, Kelly shook her head. “That’s not nice.”

“Maybe not but it’s accurate.” She kissed Kelly’s cheek. “Hey, you got a text from work. One of your patients called the after hours line needing some support. I didn’t read the text, but that part flashed on the preview and… sorry.”

“Ugh, just one day, I just want one day. Is that too much to ask?” Kelly asked as she left the room.

“Therapy is a tough gig, especially around the holidays. She doesn’t get that time with family that others do. It’s rough,” Alex explained as Lois looked on.

“I guess some people just need the help. What can you do?” Lois shrugged, though she wasn’t joking this time. A thoughtful, even slightly anxious look passed across her features very, very briefly before she smiled brightly again. “So that just leave you and me, Red.”

“You don’t want my help in the kitchen. I only know how to make like five things, and I nearly killed Kelly with one of them the first time I cooked for her. Want me to get Martha?”

“Or you can do Jon’s stuff?” Lois shrugged. “I made him some carrot mash earlier and he has mashed apples in there too. You could heat it up if you like because dinner will be ready soon. And maybe make up a bottle for him for a bit later?”

“Oh, I can do that. Is he on formula, or are you still pumping?”

“He’s on formula now. And semi-solid foods. About five times more often than a regular baby, too. Which is why I make his bottle when he has his evening food so that it gives the boiling water a chance to cool down before he’s ready for it. It will probably be too cool after dinner, but we can just heat it back up in the bottle warmer.”

Looking to where Lois gestured, Alex found the formula and began to read directions. “Man, I don’t envy your food budget. You planning on selling something, like maybe a kidney, when the teenage years hit?”

“I have no idea,” Lois shook her head. “Aside from Clark and I getting third jobs each, or Jon getting himself a job, I really don’t know what else we can do. I mean, we can always sell the apartment in Metropolis and move here full time, but the commute to work every morning will be a real bitch.”

“Have you spoken to Kara and Lena about it? They’re about to be in the same situation you are, and I know Kara said Lena was working on some high calorie, high protein food concentrates that passed the Kara taste test. It’s still in the testing stage, but I know they’ll share the results with you.” She pulled out several bottles, lining them up to be filled. “Plus, it’s Kara and Lena, and you guys are family. They literally have more money than they know what to do with. If you need help for Jon, you could ask them.”

Lois sighed and shook her head. “I might be proud as a Lane, but Clark’s even prouder still as a Kent. The Kents have never asked for a single dime they didn’t earn, and accepting handouts just isn’t in their nature.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Alex sighed but then looked up suddenly. “Hey, I bet Lena is going to need to do a lot of testing on the Kryptonian/human hybrids, and if she has Jon for testing too, that will give her one of each.” 

“One of each wha…” Suddenly, Lois eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath. “They’re having a girl?”

Alex grabbed Lois and slapped her hand over Lois’ mouth. “Fuck! Not a word, Lane, not a goddamn word until after that baby is born or I swear to God I will stick you in a hole so deep underground that not even your husband’s x-ray vision will be able to find you. Do you hear me?”

Lois, eyes still wide, stared at Alex for a moment, and then very slowly a grin began to spread. It was hidden behind Alex’s hand at first, but soon reached Lois’ eyes. A moment later, her tongue darted out and licked Alex’s palm.

“Ewww!” Alex pulled her hand back, wiping the palm of her hand on the leg of her jeans. “Okay, that was nothing like the dream that I had. Gross.”

Lois choked on her next set of words, took a moment to recover then blinked. “Say what?”

“Nothing, I said nothing.” Alex wiped her hand one more time before shaking it. “I’m in a relationship and you’re a MILF, erm, mom. You’re a happily married woman. Just keep your tongue to yourself in every way. I meant it, Lois, Kara and Lena would be really upset with both of us if this got out. You can’t tell anyone.”

Lois nodded calmly and drew a cross over her chest with one finger. “I promise, I will not say anything. They’re our family, and the last thing I want to do is hurt them.”

“Thank you.” Alex sighed and opened her mouth, about to speak when a buzzer went off on the stove.

Suddenly, the kitchen door popped open, and Kara’s excited face appeared. “Dinner?”

“Hold on, which buzzer was that one?” Lois frowned, looking all around at the twelve or so that she had scattered around the worktops. She picked up the red one that was merrily trilling away, then grinned and nodded to Kara. “Grub’s up.”

As Kara, Lois, and Alex brought out food, Eliza and Martha were taking turns feeding their home made treats to Moody who was doing various tricks. Sit, lay down, roll over, and beg had been shown with mastery and rewarded.

“You have them trained so well,” Martha said while scratching Moody behind the ears.

“That’s nothing. Watch this.” Kara raised her hand, two fingers and her thumb extended. “Reach for the sky!” In response, Moody sat back on their haunches, raising their front paws to head level. Kara watched them for several seconds, then jerked back her hand and yelled, “Bang!”

Moody crumpled to the ground and released a heavy sigh. Their long tongue lolled out of their mouth, and their eyes were closed. It didn’t even look like they were breathing.

“Are they alright?” Eliza asked.

“Moody, treat?” Kara tossed one of Eliza’s treats into the air, and immediately, Moody was up and snapped it up before it hit the ground. “Yeah, they’re just dramatic.”

“They’re certainly bright, brighter than any dog I’ve seen. Have you done any intelligence testing?” Eliza asked.

“We’ve meant to,” Lena replied, “but after my nearest near death experience and me getting pregnant so quickly and then having to rush into the wedding, things have been so hectic. My hormones have been all over the place, and I’ve been exhausted lately. After the baby is born, once I’m not subletting my body, we’ll schedule some time for testing. I expect Moody will perform very well, won’t you, my dearest love?”

Even as Moody shifted from purple to pink, Kara sighed. “I’m still right here. If you’re going to carry on like that, could you at least not do it in front of me?” Moody shifted colors, once again becoming gold. “I’m not jealous!”

Everyone (but Kara) laughed, and Martha said, “Here’s a test for you, Moody. What’s two plus two?”

Moody shifted to silver for a moment and then trotted away, and Eliza said, “Oh, Martha, even if they were that smart, they can’t speak.”

Lois re-emerged from the kitchen with the last of the plates of food, set it on the table then brushed her hands together, looked all around and grinned. “Alright, grub’s up. Come and get it. Last one here’s a Daxamite.”

“Pick me up?” Lena said as she reached up from the couch. “I’m too tired to stand.”

Kara scooped Lena up effortlessly, smiling at her wife in her arms.

“I only meant help me stand. I can walk.”

“I like carrying you. Plus, Moody can’t do this for you, can they?”

“Mmmm.” Lena applied a brief kiss to Kara’s lips. “You can do a lot of things for me that Moody can’t.”

“Really? You’ll have to remind me all about them when we’re not surrounded by our family… though that would make for a memorable holiday.”

As Kara carried her to the table, Lena hummed her agreement. “Scandalous.”

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Lois had picked up a serving spoon and now wagged it in their direction. “Get a room.”

“Isn’t this a room?” Lena asked Kara.

“Looks like a room to me,” Kara agreed. “This is a nice room.”

Lois scowled and placed her hands on her hips, still holding the serving spoon. “Alright, let me clarify. Get a room that does not have everyone else in it! What kind of an example is this setting for your nephew?” She nodded to Jon, who Kelly had sat in his highchair, and who was now banging on the tray of said highchair with his fists, giggling like mad.

As she placed Lena in a chair, Kara pulled out her own and took a seat. “Right now I doubt he thinks anything of it at all, but I hope he sees the example of someone who loves her wife unconditionally.”

“Two someones,” Lena said.

Off to the side, Moody had placed their head in Martha’s lap and was pawing at her.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be doing that during dinner, sweetheart,” Martha said. “Just sit tight. I’m sure you’ll get plenty to eat.”

Bending down, Moody picked up four of Jon’s blocks from the ground and dropped them into Martha’s lap.

“Not now, Moody. Lena, will you call Moody? They want to play still.”

“Moody, come.”

Moody gave one wistful look back at Martha, their color shifting from purple to blue, before sliding under the table and over to Lena.

Krypto crept into the room shortly after and laid himself down beside Jon’s highchair, knowing it was the perfect position to capture any scraps of discarded food that Jon decided to cast over the side of his tray in his over-eagerness to be fed, as he so often did. Moody, on the other hand, went from person to person. They weren’t limited to bits of food that fell but were instead fed things that would otherwise go in the trash. Turkey bones and the cobs from corn on the cob were delicacies in Moody’s world. They even ate discarded paper napkins which had replaced the cloth ones from last Christmas (after the ingesting of the cloth napkins incident of Thanksgiving).

When dinner was over, both Krypto and Moody were given proper plates of food in the kitchen, Moody with express instructions not to eat the plate (this time). After dinner, people met in the living room to hand out gifts.

“Can we go first?” Lena asked. “I’m exhausted. I need to go lie down, but we have something for Jon we’d like to give him first.”

“Sure,” Clark nodded as he watched Lois sit herself down on the floor with her legs stretched in front of her, and Jon sitting between them so that she could catch him if he should fall. Not that he would, but sometimes he had a tendency to drop off to sleep after food, and she wanted to be prepared.

“Kara, would you get the gifts?” Lena asked.

“Sure thing.” Kara grabbed several boxes from under the tree, turning and glaring at Moody who was now in the spot she had vacated next to Lena on the couch. “That’s my seat.”

“Five second rule, Kara,” Alex said. “You move your feet; you lose your seat.”

“That wasn’t even five seconds. Lena, tell Moody to move. That wasn’t five seconds.”

“Moody can’t count, can you darling?”

As Lena petted them, Moody shifted to a deep pink.

“There’s plenty of other seats Kara,” Clark grinned as he took the seat directly behind his wife and began to play with her hair. Lois bit her lip for a moment, turning to smirk back at him, then turned to Kara as well and patted the floor beside her and Jon.

“Come on over, Kara. Loads of room over here. Unless you want to sit with Kelly, and Alex can come be on Jon-watch for a bit?”

“Thanks.” With one glance back at her wife, Kara took a seat on the floor next to Lois, laying out the gifts near them. “I helped with these.”

“Oh, she definitely did,” Lena agreed. “Kara was the technical adviser. Without her, none of that would be possible.”

Lois reached forward and took the first one, peeled a little bit of the paper back then showed it to Jon. “Here you go little buddy, look. What’s this?”

Jon let out a little “ooooh” of intrigue and interest as he reached out to grab the paper, and Lois helped him to pull some of it off before he got the hang of it himself and was soon tearing into the paper, no further help from his mother needed.

When all the paper fell away (and was gathered by Lois off to one side), Jon held up the little brightly coloured train with the Super logo on the side and squealed in delight. It immediately went to his mouth so he could test whether it was edible, and when he discovered it wasn’t, much to his great disappointment, he began to happily bash it on Lois’ knee instead.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” Lois gritted her teeth, trying not to make too much fuss but finding it increasingly difficult. “Another present please. Quickly. Someone? Anyone? Any time today!”

Kara was quick to rip a piece of wrapping on a gift and shove it into Jon’s way. “You want this, buddy? Pull here, like this. Come see what’s inside.”

The train was discarded immediately as Jon reached out to grab the paper where Kara was guiding him, and Lois let out a quiet breath of relief, rubbing her knee with a hand. “He’s definitely getting stronger.”

This next toy was a bright red racing car, made of the same durable materials as the train, and Clark smirked as he looked at his cousin. “You tested all these, didn’t you? Why didn’t you call me? That sounds like so much fun.”

“And ruin the Christmas surprise? I figured you’d have plenty of time to play with… test them out here at the house to make sure they maintain their durability. We went through a lot of substances, and these will stand up to him.”

“I’m not so sure I will,” Lois winced as Jon went back to bashing his car on her knee again. She held up one finger and made a swirling motion with it. “Switch. Your turn Smallville.”

After a brief trade of places where Clark joined his son and his cousin on the floor and Lois sat back on the chair, massaging her throbbing knee, the present giving continued.

The next gift was a set of brightly colored rings, each smaller than the last and all of them stacked on a pole so that them made a sort of circular pyramid shape. Also there was a board with animal shapes that made the relevant animal noises when you pressed each of them. This seemed to be a particular favorite of Jon’s. Especially the pig, which set him off in fits of giggles each time he pressed it over and over… and over… and over… and over...and over.

And over.

And over.

“Clark!” Lois exclaimed at last. “For the love of God, show him something else!”

Clark pressed the sheep instead, and Jon giggled and continually pressed the sheep picture over and over, occasionally alternating it with the pig and sometimes the cow as well.

“That is not better, Smallville. I meant maybe a quieter toy?”

“He’s having fun, leave him be,” Clark chuckled as he stroked Jon’s silky soft tuft of hair fondly. “Isn’t that right little champ.”

“We have something quiet for him, but I don’t think he’ll appreciate it right now.” Lena nodded to Kara who nodded back and retrieved and envelope that she handed over to Lois.

“This is for Jon,” Kara said.

Lois looked between the pair of them for a moment, then opened the envelope with much more care and consideration than she would normally have done. But seeing as it wasn’t hers, she figured she probably should look after it. Whatever it was.

A moment later she was pulling legal documents from the envelope and frowned a little as she studied the pages. “A trust fund?” she asked, surprised. “You set up a trust fund for him?”

“We did, with you and Clark as the trustees of the account,” Lena said. “It pays an annual sum and includes a few common limitations, like a spendthrift clause, but it’s fairly standard. The amount you see on the bottom of page five is what is available for this year, and you’ll have a new deposit of the same amount on January first of this coming and every following year. Oh, it includes a compound six percent cost of living increase to keep up with inflation. You’re welcome to have your lawyer look over it or ask me any questions you have.”

Lois just stared at the documents, wide eyed, her mouth open ever so slightly. Clark glanced back at his wife, and grinned. “Uh, Lena… you do realise the mistake you just made, right? You just handed Lois Lane an envelope with legal documents in. That is never a good thing. And Lois and her lawyer aren’t exactly on speaking terms either.” He nodded to Lois. “I think you finally broke her.”

“Oh, true. Kara, perhaps Clark should look it over.”

“Okay, Lois, can I…?” Kara held out her hand, waiting patiently.

Lois didn’t respond. She just stared at the documents… or rather through them. Clark frowned when he saw. “Oh. She may be reliving the Vatican incident all over again. Hold on, let me just…” He reached back and plucked the papers from his wife’s hands, then set them down on the floor beside him. Lois blinked a few times, and he smiled back at her. “Hey, welcome back.”

“I don’t… I don’t know what to say,” Lois licked her lips to try and moisten them a little, then turned to Lena and Kara. “I don’t understand the legal stuff, but I understand the intentions. Thank you. Both of you. Really.”

“Think of it as our investment in the future Super,” Lena said. “We Luthors know how to get in on the ground floor of a good thing.”

“Anyway, my cousin’s cousin is my… Is that still my cousin?” Kara asked, smiling when Lena nodded. “Jon is family. Plus Lena explained it to me, and I think we’re making money on the deal somehow.”

“It’s an irrevocable trust, so no income tax, and my estate won’t pay a tax. Plus, if a wealth tax goes into effect, it helps to protect us from that too.”

“If you need any more help with that Lena.” Alex smiled, waving at her sister-in-law.

“Of course, Alex. When are you and Kelly getting married and having kids?”

Next to Alex, Kelly choked on her water.

“Hey, Moody, think fast!” Lois called quickly to try and break the tension before it truly started. She had balled up the torn up paper from Jon’s gifts into a couple of small balls, and threw one across the room towards Moody.

Jumping to their feet, Moody leaped into the air and snatched up the balled up paper, swallowing it whole. They landed, gaze settling sharply on Lois as they watched her move the next bit of paper from hand to hand. As soon as she tossed it, Moody was ready to grab and consume it.

Lois grinned and threw another ball which was also successfully caught, just as the previous two had been, then held up a fourth one. “Anyone else want to play Moodyball? It’s like basketball but with Moody instead of a basket.”

“Not me.” Lena reached out, waving her hand until Kara stood up and helped her to her feet. She kissed Kara on the cheek. “That’s it for me, I’m afraid. I’m off to bed. Are you coming with me, darling?”

“Oh, if you want,” Kara said.

“Not you. You stay with the family and catch up, enjoy the evening. Moody?”

Shifting from purple to pink, Moody trotted over to Lena, their tails wagging.

“Come along.” Lena reached down and patted Moody’s head. “Kara will be over here for who knows how long. You can have her side of the bed.”

As they walked away, Moody looked over their shoulder at Kara and shifted to gold.

“I’m not jealous!” Kara yelled as the door closed between her and Lena.

Alex chuckled. “I can’t believe you’re jealous of a dog.”

“I’m not,” Kara huffed and flopped onto the couch, “and Moody isn’t a dog, not really. Moody is a terror. I’m telling you, they’re trying to break up my marriage.”

“Not this again,” Alex said as she pushed to her feet. “I’m getting a drink. Anyone else?”

“I won’t say no,” Lois said as she got up as well. “And Jon needs his evening bottle. I’ll just come and grab it.”

In the kitchen, Alex prepared adult beverages while Lois checked Jon’s bottle and put it in the bottle warmer. The whole time, Lois kept gazing at Alex out of the side of her eye. It was multiple glances as Alex moved about, getting glasses and bottles.

“What is it?” Alex sighed. “Do I have something on my face, or are you about to butt in where you aren’t concerned? This better not be about the baby.”

“You mean you don’t want me to talk about Jon?” Lois smirked, then shrugged. “Okay, fine. Lovely weather out today, huh?”

“You know what I mean. Jon is adorable. I always want to hear about him. He looks like both of you, your eyes and Clark’s dimples. It’s really not fair. He’s going to stop crime with cuteness.”

“That’s the plan,” Lois nodded, though she was beaming with pride at the glowing compliments Alex was dishing out about her son. “He’ll make love, not war.” And then her eyes widened. “Uh… that didn’t come out the way I meant it to. I just meant… you know. He’ll not need to resort to violence to stop bad things. He’s just got to bat those… um… what’s the name of the color that’s a cross between purple and blue?”

“Violet?”

“No, I have violet eyes. His are sort of a bluish violet. Anywho, doesn’t matter,” Lois waved a hand dismissively. “He’ll bat them at folks and they’ll just melt under his gaze and all will be right with the world. You’ll see. However, as dashingly handsome as my son is, he’s not the reason I came out here.” She glanced at his bottle in her hand. “Well, he is, but he isn’t. I actually wanted to butt in where I’m not concerned.”

“Shocking. Do I need a double?”

“You might need a triple,” Lois shrugged. “I wanted to ask you about you and Kelly. You’re welcome for my distraction after Lena’s comment, by the way.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for that. I know you guys and Kara and Lena are happy and pushing out babies, but it feels like you’re in some secret club where you’re trying to initiate us. Is it a pyramid scheme? Do you have to keep recruiting new couples to keep your numbers up?”

“It’s not like that,” Lois shook her head as she tilted Jon’s bottle to pour a little of his milk onto her wrist, checking the temperature. “Although we do have our eyes on two new recruits, saying that. But no, I promise there’s no conspiracy or club or agenda, or anything like that. We just want you to be happy too.” She returned the bottle to the warmer for a little bit longer then leaned on the counter so she could give Alex her full attention. “Kelly’s great. We all love her and we can see why you do too. You two are made for each other.”

“I don’t disagree with you. I’ve got this, okay? Just let me handle things.”

Lois held up her hands. “Hey, this time I’m not going to meddle. I’ll stay in my lane. I mean it. I just… I guess I’m just curious what’s taking you so long, is all. When you were with Maggie, you were engaged within, what was it, months? Definitely less than a year, according to Kara. Yet you’ve been with Kelly much longer and still nothing. Is it because of what happened with Maggie? I don’t blame you at all. I’m just wondering if there’s anything any of us can do to help. All joking aside, we love you, Alex. And if there is anything any of us can do, all you have to do is ask. You know that, right?”

“Jeezus.” Alex took a sip of her drink and refilled it. “This is you staying in your lane, Lane?”

“Oh come on, Red, you know I’m a terrible driver. What did you expect?”

Alex chuckled. “Okay, I’ll give you that, and it’s not about Maggie. I’m good there. It took a while, probably a year for me to come through and start to really start feeling like myself again, but I’m good, better now. I’m happy with me and Kelly. You’re right. She’s an amazing partner, and she’d make an amazing mom. I love her.”

Lois took Jon’s bottle from the warmer again and tested it once more on her wrist. “I’m sensing a ‘but’.”

“But she needs to believe I’ll come home to her.”

Lois narrowed her eyes for a moment in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Her fiancée left her a note, one that basically said, ‘If you’re reading this, I didn’t make it back from the mission.’ Lois, I’ve got one of those notes. I had one for Maggie, and I have one written for Kelly too. I can’t do that to her though. I can’t put her through that again, so she needs to believe I can make better choices, choose command over action, prioritize the future over urgency, and put her first by putting myself first. It’s a battle every damn time I have a chance to go out in the field, but if I want to be a wife and a mother, she needs to believe I’ll come home to her.”

“Damn.” Hands pressed flat against the counter, Lois stared forward, not looking at Alex. “I haven’t lost anyone in that way, not like she did, but I can’t say I don’t know the fear. There have been too many close calls with Clark, too many times the world almost said goodbye to Superman, and I almost…” Lois turned, nodding. “I get it. The loss for her is still so fresh. Knowing what you do, seeing what you do, that has to be hard, but we can’t choose the people we love.”

“No, we can’t.”

“So what’s the plan, Red?”

“Patience and consistency. I make my presence instead of a fear of loss her new expectation. It’s already gotten better. She’s healing, and I’m helping.”

“Patience and consistency, I’ll drink to that.”

When Alex held up her glass, Lois held up the drink she was holding in return, frowning heavily at the baby bottle in her hand.

“Seriously? I used to be the girl who could drink everyone under the table. Whose life is this?”

“It looks pretty good to me,” Alex said as she traded a glass of alcohol for the bottle. “I think it’s an upgrade.”

Smiling back at Alex, Lois said, “Definitely. Come on, let’s go feed my little alien before he gets fussy. He’s a lot less cute then.”

Carrying drinks and a baby bottle, Lois and Alex made their way back to the living room. Drinks were passed out, and while Jon drank his bottle, twirling his fingers in his hair, the group chatted. Jon was half-asleep when a phone rang, and everyone pulled theirs out, verifying it belonged to none of them. Finally, Kara dug along the side of the couch coming back with a purse and pulling a phone from inside it.

“It’s Lena’s, and Jess is calling her,” Kara said as she answered and switched the phone to speaker . “Je—”

_“Mrs. Luthor-Danvers, I have that update you wanted on the Milan contract. You’ll be pleased to know that—”_

“Jess.”

There was an extended pause. _“Kara?”_

“Are you and my wife working during the holidays?”

_“I can explain.”_

“And that’s a yes.” Kara sighed. “Jess, you and I had an agreement. Lena is pregnant, very pregnant, and as you know, this is not your standard pregnancy. She needs her rest.”

_“I know but—”_

“I finally got her to work from home instead of going into the office. Do you know how hard that was?”

_“Trust me I do, Kara, but—”_

“Give me one good reason why her working during the holidays, why you helping her work during the holidays, is acceptable.”

_“Am I allowed to answer this time, or are you going to interrupt me again?”_

“Right, sorry, go on.”

_“Thank you. Mrs. Luthor-Danvers didn’t want to work from home. Even after all of your cajoling and begging—”_

“I didn’t beg.” She looked out at the group who was listening in. “I don’t beg.”

Alex snorted. “I’ve seen you roll on your back for a chicken nugget.”

“That was a chicken strip, Alex, with honey dijon dipping… never mind. I didn’t beg, Jess.”

_“You interrupted again.”_

“Sorry. Last time, I promise.”

_“Unlikely. So, even with your considerable powers of persuasion, your wife was unwilling to work from home. She said the Milan project needed hands on attention, and she didn’t trust it to anyone else… except me. So to get her to go home and rest more, I took over the Milan project, but there were stipulations.”_

“Like constant updates and working during the holidays?”

_“It’s like you know her.”_

Kara sighed. “You’re off the clock, Jess. Lena is in bed. Whatever this project is, no one is working on it anymore today. No one is going to lose their job if you take tomorrow off too. Wait, no one will lose their job, right?”

_“No, it will be fine.”_

“Okay, executive decision time. As of this moment, you’re off the clock for the next sixty hours. That’s all of tonight and the next two days off. Lena does not pay you enough to work over the holidays like this.”

_“Actually, she does, but I’ll take the time off so long as you tell her it was your idea.”_

“She… How much do you get paid?”

_“Happy Holidays, Kara, Danvers and Lane-Kent clans. Oh, and Kelly, you too, though you’re an honorary Danvers… for now. Bye.”_

“For now? What does that mean?” Kelly asked. “Jessica? Hello?”

Kara slid the phone back into Lena’s purse. “She hung up. Well, at least she’s taking some time off.”

“You know Lena is going to kill you when she finds out about that,” Alex said.

“No, Lena and I are going to have a mature and non-violent conversation about the health of our baby and our baby’s birth mother. We’re partners. We partner.”

“Dead woman,” Lois coughed into her hand.

“I still have questions about Jess’ comment,” Kelly said. “Kara, does she know something I don’t know?”

“Probably lots of somethings. Jess is like the Oracle of Delta.”

“Ahem, Delphi,” Alex said.

“The Delphi of Delta?”

“No, Kara the…” Alex glanced over at Kelly. “Actually, I can answer your question.” Alex reached under the tree and withdrew a small box, holding it out to Kelly. “Merry Christmas.”

Stiffening, Kelly stared at the box but didn’t take it. “Alex, you know I care about you—”

“You care about me?”

Kelly smiled, but tension still rode her body. “I love you. You know that I love you, right?”

“I love you too.”

“I know, and I feel so lucky to have you in my life. I don’t want that to change.”

“Why would it?” Alex asked.

“Because,” Kelly glanced over at the others who watched with great interest, “sometimes when two people aren’t on the same page, and one says slow down, the other person hears stop. I don’t want you to hear stop.”

“Kelly. You and I don’t just talk. We communicate.” She pressed the gift into Kelly’s hands. “We’re on the same page. Trust me.”

Taking a deep breath, Kelly nodded and unwrapped the gift. She paused at the jewelry box below, waiting several seconds before popping it open. “It’s a key.” She withdrew the house key with the small motorcycle helmet keychain. “You got me a key?”

“To my apartment, to our apartment, I hope.”

“You want me to live with you?”

Taking the box and key, Alex put them off to the side and took Kelly’s hands in hers. “Kelly, I want to come home to you every night. I want you to see that, to see that I’m not going to take any stupid chances, that my need to be there hero isn’t greater than my love, not when I have you to come home to. Let me prove that to you.”

Kelly teared up, eyes filling before the tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. She managed to nod before she leaned in holding Alex close.

“Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll start crying. No one here wants to see me cry.”

“I do,” both Lane sisters said simultaneously, earning a glare from Alex.

“Damn, you two are the slowest moving lesbians on the planet,” Lucy said. “What happened to that second date UHaul thing? Haven’t you been together for like two years?”

“Kara’s got that covered for both of us,” Alex said as she and Kelly curled up together. “She got engaged, her fiancée got pregnant, and they got married in less than six months.”

Lois stood, holding a mostly asleep Jon. “Yeah, but they knew each other for years first. You, Danvers are just slow moving.”

“And how long did you know Clark?” Alex asked.

“That’s completely different. And I’m going to put this little elf to bed. This could take a bit. Don’t wait on me for presents… except for my presents. I want my presents.”

For the next forty minutes, people exchange gifts and talked quietly among themselves. Finally, Lois came tiptoeing downstairs without Jon.

“He finally nodded off. If any of you drink too much and wake my kid,” she pointed at Alex, “you’re on diaper duty for the rest of the visit, and believe me, he’s a super pooper.” She picked up her drink, leaning back in her chair and sighing. “Okay, someone give me a gift. Mama just wants to drink, relax, and open some—”

Suddenly, a blaring alarm rang through the house, causing everyone to startle and Lois to spill her drink all up her arm. It took several moments for the group to figure out what was making the clamor.

“The early alert system,” Lucy said as she ran to the speaker, opening up a panel and reading the display. “We’ve got an earthquake in the LA area, and it’s huge! They’re gonna need help!”

Already, Clark and Kara had stood and yanked off their glasses, their suits forming over their clothes and covering them until Superman and Supergirl stood there.

“Someone turn that noise off!” Lois yelled.

“Working on it!” Lucy punched in a code, and the alarm finally stopped, only to be replaced by Jon’s wailings from upstairs. “Uh-oh.”

“Remember what I said about diaper duty?” Lois stomped off toward her son. “ _It rarely goes off_ , she said. _It won’t be a problem_ , she said. Never trust the military. Mommy’s coming, Jon!”

“I’m surprised this isn’t in National City,” Alex said, her cell phone pressed to her ear as she was switched from one DEO station to another. “We have so many emergencies there, I didn’t think there were any left for the rest of the world.”

“We have our share in Metropolis,” Superman replied as he headed for the stairs.”Kara, you fly on ahead. I just want to say goodbye to Jon. I’ll catch up to you.”

“No, you’ll meet me there, slowpoke.” Supergirl opened the front door, practically jumping back when Moody bounded in, shifting between orange and a bright yellow as they hopped up and down. “Whoa, easy there, Moody. I know. I know. The alarm went off over here too. Eliza, did you show Lena how to turn it off?”

“She knows,” Eliza said. “She was already discussing improvements for the system. I probably should have included her in the original design specs. That’s what I get for wanting a Christmas surprise. I swear, between your x-ray vision and her IQ, we shouldn’t even— Moody!”

Moody had jumped up onto Eliza, their front paws connecting with her chest. She stepped back, and it bounced off but continued to dance around agitatedly.

“Okay, that’s not cool! Bad, Moody, bad. Sit! Heel!” Supergirl ran one hand through her hair as Moody continued to bounce from person to person, ignoring her. “See, this is what I mean when I say they have no respect for me, and it’s a problem. Lena could tell them to do the dishes and take out the trash practically, but I can’t get them to stay off the dining room table and not eat the flowers and the vase, and no one does alien dog training.”

“Just go, Kara,” Alex said. “We’ll take care of Moody. You have people to save.”

“Thank you.” However, Supergirl only made it a few steps before she was stopped in the doorway by Krypto’s rather solid presence. “Oh, come on, not you too. Krypto, move boy. Please move? Why are the pets revolting tonight?”

“Why are you people making so much damn noise?” Lois said as she came down the stairs with a whimpering Jon in her arms and Superman trailing behind.

“I’ll make him a bottle.” In a heartbeat, Superman was gone and in the kitchen.

“Sorry, Lois,” Supergirl said, “but the alarm set off Moody and Krypto, and they won’t calm down. Krypto won’t let me leave, and Moody keeps—” Moody jumped up against Supergirl, hitting her with their paws before landing and twining their tails together, rubbing them into an awful whine reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard. Slapping her hands to her ears, Supergirl said, “That! Moody is doing that.”

Even as Jon began to cry again, Lois bounced him and looked from Krypto’s stoic presence to Moody’s antics. “Are you sure it’s the alarm that’s setting them off and not something else?”

“What else could it be?” Supergirl asked.

“Well, Moody did come from your place acting like that, right. And he was at your place with Lena, so—”

“Lena!”

As Supergirl said the name, Moody stopped rubbing their tails and turned pink then bright green.

“That did it. It’s about Lena. She’s probably in labor.” As Lois said that, it was like time froze. For several seconds, the only one moving was Moody as they looked from humanoid to humanoid in the room. “Oh my God, Lena’s in labor!”

“Lena’s in labor?” Superman was suddenly in the room, a bottle in his hand as Jon was handed off to him.

The room erupted into chaos. People were talking all over each other, and Moody started to hop up and down again this time joined by Krypto. The only thing keeping Jon from crying was the bottle in his mouth. There was a shrill whistle, causing silence in the room, and everyone turned to where Lucy stood on the coffee table, calm and collected as she looked out on the chaos.

“Okay, people, here are your marching orders. Kara, get to your wife. Eliza, Alex, and Kelly, you all have medical degrees so you’re over there too. Clark, give Jon to Martha. She’s on baby duty while you get your ass to LA and save some lives. Lois, you’re on best friend duty and second in command. I’m in charge. Any questions?” A few heads shook, and she yelled, “Go!”

Within five seconds, the room had cleared out leaving only Lois and Lucy, who was hopping down from the table.

“You know, sometimes you look like Dad.”

“Ouch.” Lucy chuckled. “Wanna go see an alien hybrid being born?”

Lois hesitated and shook her head. “Um… no. Not-not really, no.”

Lucy chuckled. “Right, like you haven’t been chanting ‘One of us. One of us.’ at Lena and Kara like you’re an extra in ‘Freaks’. Come on. Let’s go over there so you can perform your best friend duties and welcome this little miracle into the world.”

Forcing a smile, Lois snapped off a salute. “Yes Ma’am.”

It was a short walk in the cold, Kansas weather to the other Farm house that had been renovated from a barn, mostly due to Clark’s hard work thought Lena’s pocketbook did play a part. When the Lane sisters arrived, there was noise from the master bedroom that drew them in. Lena reclined on the bed, a sheet tossed over her body while Kelly, Eliza, and Alex walked around the bottom of the bed and compared notes. On one side of Lena was Kara, holding her hand. On the other side was Moody who was yellow-green with Lena’s hand stroking their fur.

“Moody shouldn’t be on the bed,” Alex said not looking up. “It’s not hygienic.”

“It’s fine, Alex.” Lena took several breaths with Kara, a practiced lamaze exercise. “They don’t shed. I want them here.”

Even as Lena began her breathing exercises again, Moody seemed to imitate the process. Suddenly, Lena beared down, grabbing Kara’s hand and squeezing Moody’s fur tightly as a contraction hit. She closed her eyes, her whole body tensing up.

“You’re doing great, babe, just keep breathing. You need to breath through the contractions.”

“I know how to breath, Kara!” Lena squeezed Kara’s hand even harder, pulling the Girl of Steel closer with her temporary but considerable strength. “I’ve been breathing all my life so… shhh!”

“Yeah, we’ll be hearing worse language than that before this baby makes an appearance,” Alex said from under the sheet where she was checking Lena. She looked up, glancing around the room. “She’s six centimeters dialated, but it’s changing fast, really fast. Her contractions are less than a minute apart now which is too close for a human but consistent with Lois’ labor, so no one panic. We could be having the baby any time now. I’ve never seen anyone progress this quickly. If anything, Lois moved slowly, but every woman is different, and we started Lena on the hormone treatment earlier. Everyone, gloves on. I think we’re getting a Christmas baby.”

Even as Lena gasped and squeezed Kara’s hand again, Lois turned on her heel and quickly left the room. Her feet carried her rapidly away from the master bedroom, down the stairs, through the house and she didn’t stop until she had reached the kitchen. Fumbling for a glass from one of the kitchen cupboards, she filled it with tap water and drained it quickly. But it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Fuck this.” She went immediately to another cabinet and withdrew an amber bottle, pouring three fingers of whiskey and draining it just as quickly as she had the water before refilling the glass again.

“You might want to slow down,” Lucy spoke from the doorway, making her sister startle and spin at her presence, “that’s not apple juice, this isn’t your kitchen, and that’s not your whiskey.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Lois scowled as she took a slower gulp of the second helping, finishing it in two mouthfuls this time instead of one. Then she reached out for the bottle to refill again, for a third run, her hand trembling slightly but not as much as it had been just a few moments before.

“Hey.” Lucy stepped into the kitchen and quickly grabbed the bottle, her gaze locking with Lois’, “What the hell is going on with you? Your wife isn’t the one in labor. As a matter of fact, it’s your best friend. Shouldn’t you be in there offering moral support? I never took you for the squeamish type.”

“I’m not,” Lois scowled. “I just… I can’t be in there right now.”

For several moments, Lucy held Lois’ gaze before she took a step back. “Something happened, didn’t it? Was it with Jon’s labor? Was it… Was it bad?”

“The birth itself wasn’t,” Lois shook her head, her voice quiet. “It was just… after.”

“What do you mean, ‘after’? Jon’s fine. You’re fine.” Watching her sister, seeing perhaps for the first time the flinch around Lois’ eyes and the slight shying away, Lucy asked, “Aren’t you?”

“It’s what I tell everyone,” Lois sounded less than convincing, however.

“What are you talking about? Is it this new mom stuff, work-life balance stuff? Look, I know, not from personal experience, that the transition from no kids to a kid can be hard especially when you have a career like you do. You don’t have to worry. You’re nailing it. Jon’s doing great, and you’re still knocking articles out of the park. Lois Lane-Kent, baby on board, is an even bigger all star.”

“Yeah,” Lois nodded, not looking her sister in the eye. “Yeah you’re right. It’s just stuff. So anyway, speaking of parents, how’s the General doing? I hear he almost earned himself another medal the other day? What was it for this time?”

Her hand stilled with her glass halfway to her mouth, Lucy asked, “You want to know about Dad?”

“Sure,” Lois nodded, pouring herself a smaller glass of whiskey this time and attempting to sip it casually. “How’s he doing?”

“Holy fuck. Something is really wrong. What’s going on?”

“What?” Lois attempted to look surprised, but her usual on-point acting was falling far short of convincing in her current state. “Nothing. Nothing’s going on.”

“Lois,” Lucy reached out and took the drink from her sister, placing it on the counter, “how bad is it?”

“It’s nothing,” Lois shook her head again, still failing to meet Lucy’s eye.

“You’re lying, and you’re not even doing it well. You only ask about Dad if you need something from him or if you’re trying to change the subject. All the pictures, the happy family, was that bullshit? Are you and Clark splitting up?”

Now Lois’ eyes really did go wide in genuine surprise. “What?! Where the fuck did you get such a stupid idea as that?!”

“I don’t know. My BS detector is going crazy here. You’re lying about something. Is it kids? Can you not have any more kids? I know Alex did a bunch of tests after Jon was born and put you on some weird hormones or something. Did that make you sterile or something? Do Lena and Kara know?”

Lois swallowed hard. “It’s not that. The drugs and stuff were to help with the temporary superpowers and coming down gradually from the super power high that I’d been on for the past nine months. As far as we all know, it hasn’t done anything to prevent us from having more kids in the future… if we want to. Which right now is not an option because there’s too much else going on. That’s all.”

“Okay, so if it’s not your marriage or more babies, what is it?” Suddenly, Lucy’s eyes grew wide, and she grasped Lois’ forearms. “Oh, my God! Are you sick? Did Jon make you sick? Are you dying? Jesus Christ, Lois, are you gonna die!?”

“No,” Lois shook her head firmly, no lies this time as she wrapped her own arms around her sister and pulled her close, seeking a hug but not specifically asking for it as such because in all honesty she didn’t know how. So she was masking it under the guise of reassuring her sister instead. “I’m not going to die. I promise, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m not dying… although for a time it felt like I did. Inside. Emotionally, I mean. ”

“Emotionally? What does that mean?” Lucy asked, still holding onto Lois like a limpet.

“It means… “ Lois paused to consider her words as she rubbed a small, soothing circle on Lucy’s back. Though whether it was to soothe Lucy, or herself, she wasn’t sure. It was just a familiar action that she found herself doing without even thinking. “... that after Jon was born, I wasn’t quite myself, for a time. And it scared me, Luce. When Jon was first born, for those first two weeks, I was surrounded by more friends and family than I knew what to do with. Everyone was doting on Jon, taking care of him, and yet I’d never felt so alone. Then their lives called them back, and...” Lois shrugged.

Lucy pushed back so she was staring up at Lois. “I don’t understand. You were lonely?”

Lois took a deep breath, weighed up her options for several long, almost agonising moments as she turned and paced a little, scrubbed at her face again with both hands, then ran her hands up and through her hair, pushing it back out of her face as she took another deep, shuddering breath before finally letting her hands drop back to her sides. She turned to lean back against the worktop, facing Lucy. When she spoke, her voice very nearly broke with the weight of the emotion it carried.

“I’m married to a superhero who is always off who knows where doing who knows what to save the world from… whatever it needs saving from this time. He wasn’t always around when I needed him, though that was partially on me. Mrs K’s a state senator, so I can’t expect her to drop everything and run every time I wanted to talk to someone, and Lena got herself involved in yet another press conference gone wrong. I swear that woman is just plain stupid when it comes to those things. Smartest idiot in the world, that one. After this one, which was far too close for comfort however, she and Kara started their own crazy crusade to live life by a new motto. Something about life being too short. They got involved in whatever mad science Lena managed to cook up, and little Luthor-Danvers was well on their way even before the wedding. Lena had to fast track it, which Jess was not happy about and… well, you know the rest.” She paused for a moment and rubbed her temple with one hand, eyes closed. “Do you know, they’ve only been to stay at this place four weekends since we gave it to them this time last year? They were in Kansas more before they had a home here.”

“I… Okay, wow. I didn’t know all that. I thought people were here with you more, helping you more. You could have called me, you know.” Lucy smiled a bit, an attempt at levity. “You still have my number, right?”

“I tried a couple of times,” Lois admitted quietly. “It always went to voicemail, and it’s not exactly something I could just leave in a message.”

“Right. I’m overseas a lot, in countries where they surveil all cell phone conversations. Sometimes I have to leave my cell off for weeks at a time. It’s national security.” Lucy stared at her feet, an uneasy silence growing between them before she lifted her head again. “I can take time from work, you know. You’re my sister. Jon’s my nephew. If you needed me, if you’d gotten me a message through the state department, I could have taken time. I could have been there for you.”

“I know,” Lois admitted again, quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She reached for her drink and downed the rest of it in one, her voice coming back a little stronger after. “But as I said, I wasn’t exactly myself. I didn’t think… well. About anything. Not just you, but most things in general. I wish you had been there, though.”

Lucy nodded. “I’m here now, and you sure as hell look like you need someone to talk to. Give me a chance?”

Lois said nothing but turned to the fridge, opened it, and pulled out two beers which she quickly uncapped, then handed one to Lucy. “Let’s go outside. This is a sit down conversation, and I need some air.”

Outside, each with a beer in hand, the Lane sisters sat in relative silence on the front porch set. Their breath rose in wisps from their mouths, streams of heat released into the crisp Kansas air. It was peaceful, almost idyllic except when the quiet was broken by an occasional noise from inside that was a reminder of the reason they were here.

“So, we just gonna drink beers and listen to that, or are we going to talk?” Lucy asked.

Lois let out a sigh, a larger than normal cloud of mist escaping into the chill night air. “I’m just trying to work out where to start.”

“The beginning is usually a good place.”

“Alright smart ass,” Lois managed a slight smile as she sat forward on the porch swing they were sitting on, her elbows resting on her knees as she picked at the label of the beer bottle in her hands. Without looking at her sister, she asked, “So you know what postpartum is, right?”

“Sort of? Isn’t that when your hormones are off after you have the baby, and you feel kind of down?”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Lois scoffed. “You hear about it all the time, and yet it’s not something you ever think will happen to you. I certainly never did. Everyone thinks that childbirth and having children is all sunshine and roses and chocolate drops. But it’s not. There’s a dark side too, and it’s a deep, dark descent into terrifying waters where every day feels like a struggle just to stay afloat and keep your head above the surface. Treading water, desperately trying not to drown and praying that someone will come to your rescue but seeing no light on the horizon.”

“Jesus, Lois, that sounds awful. I’ve heard of the baby blues, but I’ve never heard it described like that. You make it sound like something that drives people to suicide. Wait, were you—”

“No,” Lois shook her head quickly, risking a quick glance back at her sister before she looked away again, back out across the snowy scenery in front of them that stretched for miles in every direction and under any other circumstances could have been considered extremely pretty. “No, I never considered… that. You know me, the indomitable Lois Lane, thinking I could do everything myself. Then the postpartum set in, and every worry I'd ever had just grew and grew. I started to think that if Clark was spending time with us, with Jon, then who was saving people? What if he started to make mistakes because he was too exhausted from being up all night with Jon, and people started to die because of those mistakes? I felt selfish and neurotic about the lives of people I didn’t even know, so I pushed him away. I told him I had everything under control, that Jon and I were good because I thought he needed to see that and that the world needed him more than we did. God, I needed him so much and yet I just lied to his face about it every day. I didn't know how to stop, and then..." Lois laughed, a dry, humorless sound so unlike herself. "Then before I knew it, I started to fold under the weight. Something had to give."

"What happened?"

"I made plans, Lucy, plans to leave. I had a bag packed and even put it in the trunk of my car. It was like I was living inside a giant pressure cooker, and I had to take the lid off and escape."

Lucy frowned. “You wanted to take Jon and leave Clark?”

“No, I wanted to leave Jon with Clark and run away. Just me, on my own.” Lois took a slow, measure sip from her beer, then went back to studiously peeling off the label again, slowly, methodically. “I had it all planned out. I knew exactly where I’d go and how I’d get there. Because I felt like I wasn’t fit to be his mother. That I could give a thousand and one percent and it would still never be enough. That he would be better off without me.”

“Lois, that’s crazy.” Lucy shook her head, a little smile on her face that quickly fell away. “I didn’t mean crazy. I just meant that makes no sense. You’re a great mom. I know I’m not the best judge because I haven’t been around, but I can tell just seeing you with him today. You’re a natural.”

Lois managed a small smile of her own as she glanced back to her sister again, then very slowly sat back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. “Yeah, I know that now. It just took me way longer than it should ever have done to realise it. I guess it all started about two months after he was born. At first I was constantly worried about every tiny little thing, anxious to get it all right and to be the perfect parent. And yet no matter what I did, I felt helpless. I just wanted to cry all the time, but I had no idea why. Sometimes I’d lock myself away in the bathroom or the bedroom and do just that. Cry until I couldn’t physically cry any more.” She took another sip from her beer and thought for a moment, before she carried on. “I thought it was just the hormones from the alien stuff, you know? That it was a phase, and I’d soon get over it once Alex got the cocktail stuff sorted. But it didn’t go away, even after that. If anything, it only got worse. Because that’s when the dreams started.”

Lucy was quiet, her voice not much more than a whisper when she asked, “What dreams?”

Lois took a deep breath, not sure she could talk about this particular part. But she’d come this far, so why not?

“I had dreams. Nightmares, actually. Dreams are meant to be good, and these sure as hell weren’t. They were… well, imagine the very worst nightmare you’ve ever had, then triple it, and you’re probably still not even close to what these were like.”

"Come on,” Lucy shook her head, sipping some more of her beer. “They were just dreams. Dreams aren't real. I know they can be scary, but you're Lois Lane. You've faced down world dominating aliens, maniacal evil geniuses, and still gotten your stories in by the deadline... minus a few interesting typos. How bad could a few dreams have been?"

"I killed Jon."

Lois wasn’t looking at her sister, so she didn’t see the look of utter shock on her sister’s face then as she was completely blindsided by Lois’ answer. Instead Lois had picked a tree in the far distance, and was staring resolutely at it, focussed on it so intensely that it was almost as if nothing else existed in the entire world.

"It was different all the time, and sometimes I wasn't the one who killed him, but he always died, and I always knew I was responsible regardless of whether he died by my hand or someone else’s. I was his mother. How could I not be the one who was responsible? It got so bad that I did everything I could to avoid sleep altogether. And in the end I was so exhausted, just trying to keep myself awake, that I couldn't tell if I was actually awake or asleep. I lost track of reality. I lost myself."

"Lois—" Lucy started, stunned by what she was hearing, but Lois wasn’t finished, and cut across her sister before Lucy could say any more.

"I remember standing in his doorway one day while Jon cried in his crib, but I couldn’t check on him. I wanted to. Every instinct in me was telling me that my baby needed me. But I couldn't make my legs move because some part of me wasn't sure that this wasn't a dream. I wasn't sure what I'd find if I looked in that crib. Would it be my baby who needed his mom? Or just proof that I'd failed him once again? I don't know how long I stood there, but it must have been a while because Mrs. K was in town, and she showed up, thank God. She took him and sent me off to bed, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do. I know she talked to Clark about me needing more sleep, about me doing too much, but sleep really was the last thing I wanted because I was so terrified of the dreams I’d inevitably have when I shut my eyes. That was it though. That was the day I knew I needed help, and after a couple of hours of lying in bed, pretending to sleep each time Clark or Mrs. K came to check on me, I summoned up the courage and I called a therapist. I needed someone to help me so that I could help my son. I was so..." Lois’ voice cracked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She stood up quickly and walked away from her sister, keeping her back to her, but she made no effort to hide the tears that she knew Lucy had already seen. “I was so goddamn broken, Luce. I just wanted to run and run and never look back again.” Her shoulders began to tremble and she let out one last shaky breath, one word carried with it. “Fuck."

And then the floodgates opened and everything that she had been bottling up, all the pent up frustration and anxiety and terror and every other emotion she had been holding back from the world finally bubbled to the surface in a tidal wave of tears. Dropping to her knees, Lois Lane buried her head in her hands and wept.

For what felt like an eternity, she stayed like that, but then to her surprise, an arm worked its way around her shoulder and she found herself being pulled into the embrace of her sister who had dropped to her knees beside her. Lois fought her sister for just a fraction of a second, then crumpled into Lucy’s arms and wept even more, burying her head in Lucy’s shoulder as Lucy held her close, one hand stroking gentle, comforting circles on Lois’ back, mirroring the actions that Lois herself had used on Lucy earlier when she was comforting her in the kitchen.

Lucy just held her sister quietly, letting her ride out her emotions, comforting her, letting her know that she was no longer alone in this fight with herself and her emotions. She had support. She had someone to lean on now, someone who would be there for her no matter what, and although it broke her heart to see Lois like this, Lucy also had the feeling that this had been a long time coming, and perhaps, just maybe this was the break Lois needed. The chance she needed to finally start to heal herself. She needed to release all the pressure that had been building up inside, just like she said it had, and now that it was released and she had shared her burden and no longer had to carry the weight alone, she could finally start to look forward to the future, and very slowly heal herself.

Still she said nothing, waiting for Lois, but when at last the sobs had turned to sniffles and Lois was no longer clinging to her so desperately, Lucy finally dared to speak again.

“Does Lena know?”

“I’ve tried to tell her, but she’s not listening.” Lois sniffled, her exhaustion so clearly emotional and not physical, but obvious nonetheless. “No one’s been listening.” Lois’ voice was coming back stronger now, as she took a few calming breaths, though they still hitched at the end and a few sniffs still escaped now and again.

“Then tell her again.” Lucy gently palmed away a few remaining tears from Lois’ cheek.

“Luce—”

“I mean it, Lois, you tell her again and again until she hears you. You tell Kara too. This is going to affect her, and if they don’t hear you, then you get louder, and you get backup.” As Lois finally sat up to look at her sister, Lucy removed her arm from round Lois’ shoulder, raised both thumbs and jerked them at herself. “I’m backup.”

“The Lane sisters together, huh?”

“You think a Luthor and a Super can take us?”

“Pfft, in their dreams.” Lois managed a much more convincing chuckle this time, reached behind her and picked up the bottle of beer that she’d set down. She tipped back her beer, drinking down the last of it, then shook the bottle.

Lucy caught the motion and stood up. “Same again?”

“It’s like you know me,” Lois smirked. A moment later, Lucy returned with four bottles of beer, set two to one side and passed one to Lois, keeping the final one for herself as she sat back down again, on the floor of the porch.

For a while they sipped their beers in silence, Lois leaning back in to Lucy again and resting her head on Lucy’s shoulder, whilst Lucy rested her chin on Lois’ head, the pair of them resuming the position they had been in before Lucy’s impromptu beer run. Lucy glanced at her sister a couple of times, then let out a soft sigh.

"She'd be proud of you, you know."

"Who would?” Lois frowned. “Who would be proud of me?"

"Mom would be,” Lucy smiled. “The way you took care of me after she died, she'd be proud of you for that, but going through everything you did with Jon and being the mom to him you are today... Yeah, she'd be proud of you."

“Careful,” Lois also managed a smile. “You’ll set me off again.”

Lucy chuckled and wrapped her free arm back around Lois, the two of them sitting together on the porch of the Luthor-Danvers house and ignoring the rest of the world around them.

“Can you tell me some stuff about her? About Mom?” Lucy asked quietly. “There’s things I’ve forgotten, and there are some things I’m not sure if they’re memories, or just stories I made up for myself to fill in the blanks where the memories should be. Dad never talks about Mom, so I was kind of wondering, will you? Will you tell me about her? What was she like?”

“What was mom like? Well, she loved deer and poems by Emily Dickinson. She loved painting as well, and for a brief time took up a teaching assistant’s post at one of our schools. I don’t remember which one because I got kicked out after a term, though that happened in nearly every school I went to, and then we probably moved not long after when the General got a new posting anyway. But often when he went away, she’d paint to pass the time while she was at home. Mostly landscapes, though she did try a couple of portraits of us once. You were such a fidget, she gave up and went back to painting things that didn’t move.” Lois nudged Lucy playfully with an elbow. “She loved her daughters most of all though, above anything else, and she would have been so proud of the woman you've become. Do you remember when we got chicken pox and couldn't go on our girl scouts camping trip? You were devastated, but mom set up camp in the backyard with a tent, a campfire, and s'mores.”

“I do remember camping in the backyard. Is that why we did that?”

“Yeah... Yeah, let me tell you about her.”

For more than an hour, Lois told stories, and Lucy listened, chiming in at parts that she remembered. This time the tears were tears of laughter as particular childhood memories, pieces of a time when it was the Lane sisters against the world, were brought to life again. In this moment, the rift between them began to close. It was a much needed reminder that for all that divided them, they had more in common than they had differences. They were family.

After one particularly laughter inducing story that included a pig wearing a dress, Lois held up her bottle. “I’m empty again.”

“I’ll get us refills.” Lucy scrambled back to her feet and took all four empty bottles, headed for the door as Lois also picked herself up, and then Lucy froze in the doorway, the front door open. “Did someone just say ‘push’?”

“No way,” Lois scowled even as she dried her cheeks with a sleeve. “That was way too fast. It’s been what,” she glanced at her watch, “not even two hours, and this is a first baby.”

Raised voices came from the master bedroom, easier to hear now that the door was open. There was obvious excitement, but a few key phrases stuck out like, “I can see the head,” and “push again on the next one.”

“Son of a bitch!” Lois exclaimed in annoyance. “I was in labor for almost a full day. How the fuck is that fair?!”

“Because you got me for a sibling and she got Lex?”

“And your point is?”

Lucy took a half-hearted swipe at Lois who danced away. “Come on, jerk, you ready?”

“Lately, I’m rarely ready, but babies don’t care about that. Let's go meet her.”

“Meet ** _her_**?”

“Yeah, the baby.”

Lucy shook her head as Lois walked past her, back into the house. “They might not be a girl, you know. I’ve got some money riding on it in the DEO betting pool, but Kara and Lena are playing their cards close to the vest.”

Stopping, Lois smirked over her shoulder.

Lucy’s eyes widened. “You're kidding! Lena told you?”

“Nope. I'm Lois Lane. Investigative is my middle name... and Trouble.”

“...I thought it was Joanne.”

Lois shrugged. “They're all hyphenated.”

“Wow, legal documents must be a bitch.”

“Not as much of a bitch as—”

Lena’s voice, not so much a scream but a yell of exertion, cut through the back and forth, and the Lane sisters rushed to the room. Everyone was in much the same position as before, except Alex was lined up to play catcher for the newest child as she urged Lena on. Lena was covered in heavy sweat looking the least Luthor-like she had ever been in mixed company. Kara seemed frazzled though she smiled as she clung to Lena’s hand. On Lena’s other side, Moody’s colors seemed to change quickly from green to yellow and back again in waves.

“Come on, one big push on this next one, Lena. You’ve almost got it,” Alex said.

“You’re doing so good, babe, so good. You’re amazing.” Kara pressed a kiss to Lena’s forehead. “Just bear down on this next one and don’t forget to—”

“I swear on all I hold precious, Kara Zor-El Danvers-Luthor, if you tell me one more time to breath, I’m going to ARRRRRGH!”

As the next contraction hit, Lena bore down with so much strength that she pulled Kara in close and made the Kryptonian gasp from pain.

“That’s it. Don’t stop, Lena, don’t stop!” Alex encouraged. 

Moments later, a second cry filled the air, one high pitched and filled with the promise of life.

Many years past, a young girl had been put alone in a pod to ensure the protection of her infant cousin. Though she had been knocked off course and failed in that mission, she’d had a greater mission. That mission was to ensure that all Krypton was, all it ever had been and all it ever could have been - its society, culture, and heart - wasn’t lost. She fulfilled that every day as Supergirl, but today, she exceeded that promise she had made to her parents as she became a parent herself. Krypton existed in her and continued in her family. Krypton lived on.

As her sister put her newborn daughter in her arms, Kara of the joined Houses of Danvers, El, and Luthor cried freely, joyously. She smoothed back black hair and kissed her child before lying the newborn on Lena. Blue eyes opened and blinked up at them, and more than forty weeks of work, sleepless nights, stress, and hope became instant and unconditional love.

“She’s perfect,” Lena whispered.

“She is,” Kara agreed. “She looks just like you.”

“She looks just like you,” Lena said in turn.

“She looks like a baby,” Lois said from where she stood by. “Plus she’s still pretty gross with all the birth stuff on her. Maybe Alex should clean her up.”

“Not yet,” Lena said. “I just want to hold her.”

Tying off the umbilical cord, Alex nodded. “That’s fine. I think you earned that. Kara, here. Want to do the honors?” She held out a pair of scissors. “Just cut between the ties.”

Kara lined up to cut then smiled up at her wife. “Hey, I’m cutting the cord. That makes her wireless, right?”

Everyone groaned and Lucy said, “You sure about this marriage thing, Luthor?”

Still smiling at her daughter, Lena said, “Absolutely.”

“Ummm, isn’t that a bad color?” Lois asked as she pointed at Moody. “That’s jealousy, right?”

Moody was a metallic color now, but it was a reddish copper sheen as they sniffed at the baby and looked out at the room and its other inhabitants.

“No, that’s not gold. That’s… I don’t know what that is,” Kara shook her head in confusion. “That’s new. Lena?”

“It is new but,” Lena ran her hand out, stroking Moody’s fur once again, “it’s not bad. They understand, and they want to keep her safe.”

“Are you sure?” Kara asked.

“Yes. I don’t know how, but I know. Moody would never hurt her, never.”

Looking far from convinced, Kara had barely moved the scissor when Moody was on their feet. They had turned completely black, and their tails were twisting and rubbing together, making a noise like a stuck garbage disposal.

“That’s a threat,” Kara said, pulling back the scissor which made the noise stop, though they remained black.

“Moody, down,” Lena said, but when Moody only looked at her and then stared at Kara again, added, “Kara isn’t hurting the baby, she’s helping. Lay down, Moody.”

This time, Moody gave Lena a long look before turning orange and lying on the bed again.

“They’re not angry, but they don’t trust me,” Kara said as she cut the cord under Moody’s watchful eye.

“They probably just don’t appreciate your sense of humor,” Lucy said.

“See, the baby’s fine,” Lena said, shifting slightly so that Moody could wiggle closer and sniff. “Kara will never hurt her. Kara will protect her. You two need to stop this ridiculous feud, understand?”

Moody shifted to silver before resting their head on Lena’s abdomen, right next to the baby, letting out a contented sigh, and turning pink.

“Much better. Maybe you two can… What’s that?”

“Just delivering the afterbirth,” Eliza said as she and Kelly worked together, cleaning up and finishing the birthing process. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a mom. I’m a mom. Kara?”

“Yeah, you are. So am I. Wow. She’s so tiny. Are you ready to meet everyone, little girl?”

Lois finally allowed herself to step forward a little more, into the room, followed closely by Lucy. “So we have a name for her, right?”

Kara and Lena smiled at each other, and Kara rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, well, she’s a Luthor, and they have a lot of family names. We discussed a bunch of names, right, sweetie?”

“We did. We talked about naming her after my Aunt Luciana.”

“Then there was your Great Aunt Lidia.”

“My twin cousins, Lola and Layla.”

“I think Luna your… who was she? Anyway, that name was pretty good.”

“There was no way we could forget about Grandmother Lutessa Luthor.”

“Stop, stop, please, you’re making my ears bleed!” Lois exclaimed, making a show of covering her ears with her hands. “Just call her Lois and be done with it.”

Kara and Lena both chuckled, and Kara said, “It does start with an L. She’s got you there.”

“True, but I think we’ll stick with the name we picked instead.”

Everyone stopped, even Moody lifting their head and watching for what would come next.

“Family, friends, I’d like you all to meet our daughter, Lorelei Alexandra Luthor-Danvers.”

“Alexandra?” Alex said.

“Don’t get too excited,” Kara said, “that’s just her middle name, but yeah, we named her after you.”

“Kara…” Peeling off her gloves and dropping them on a nearby table, Alex hugged her sister. “You’re a mom.”

“I am. I love her so much, Alex, so much. I’m never going to let anything happen to her.” Kara turned, still in Alex’s arms, and stared down at her daughter. “I’m going to protect her always.”

“Of course, you will. You always protect everyone. That’s just who you are.” Hugs were exchanged as Kelly and Eliza got in on it, and then Alex said, “Do you two think maybe I could take my niece and go wash her up? You’ll probably want her cleaner for more pictures.”

“I’ll want me cleaner too,” Lena said as she handed over her daughter.

“You look beautiful,” Kara said. “I’ve never seen you look more beautiful.”

“You’re just saying that because— and where are you going?”

Having hopped off the bed, Moody looked back at Lena and turned copper again.

“Fine, but Alex won’t hurt Lori either. Just behave.”

As Moody trotted after Alex (and Eliza and Kelly who had followed to try and get vitals on the baby), Kara said, “I don’t know how you understand them like that. You’re not a telepath, are you?”

“Let’s check.” Lena pressed two fingers to her temple. “You love me and your daughter, and you’re hungry.”

“You are psychic!”

“Jeez, even I knew that, Kara. Like Lenny says, don’t play poker.” When the bedroom door closed, Lois glanced over her shoulder at her sister who nodded back at her. “I’m glad we have a few minutes. I need to talk to you two.”

“Everything alright, Lois?”

“Not really, Kara. I’ve tried to… Look, I told you guys things were tough after Jon was born, but I didn’t get into details, and that was my mistake. There are things you should know. Serious things.”

“Can this wait until—”

“No. I’m sorry, Lena, but I should have put my foot down on this much, much earlier. I was just scared.”

“You were scared?” Kara’s face registered genuine surprise at this as she took a seat on the bed, taking Lena’s hand. “If something scared you then it really must be serious. You have our attention now. What do you need to tell us?”

“When I start, please, don’t interrupt me. Parts of this will be hard, really hard, but I need to get it out in one go. If you stop me, I don’t know if I can start again.”

“We won’t,” Lena said, letting herself get pulled into a sitting position in Kara’s arms.

“Where to start,” Lois mumbled, looking up when a hand gripped her shoulder.

“At the beginning,” Lucy said. “Remember, you’ve got backup.”

“Right, Thanks.” Lois took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “So the thing is...the hormones, coming down from the superpowers, that was awful. I know Alex said she’s perfected the cocktail now, and I hope that’s true, but there’s more. There’s a lot more, and you two need to hear about this. I don’t want Lena to go through what I went through. I love you both too much.” Reaching up, Lois gripped Lucy’s hand that was still resting on her shoulder. Lucy took her sister’s hand and held it tightly, giving gentle, encouraging squeezes as she stepped closer to give Lois her full support.

“Postpartum is no joke. It took months of my life with Jon from me. It nearly took me away from him. And away from Clark too. That’s why I want Lena to see a therapist. For the sake of your family, we need to get in front of this. You cannot make the same mistake I did of believing that you can deal with this on your own.”

Kara and Lena exchanged a worried look, but keeping their word, they said nothing and listened.

Lois continued, not holding back as she laid it all on the line. She painted a clear picture of depression, anxiety, a feeling of disconnect from her child, and disconnect from herself. The nightmares, those were another matter, but once again, with her sister’s support, Lois shot from the hip. Her words were met with shock, respect, and unconditional love, and by the time she was done, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Sometimes, it’s the things we most fear will push us apart that bring us together.

Finally, Lucy opened the door to let Alex, Eliza, and Kelly back in with Lori. Though their expressions clearly said they had questions, they asked none, and no explanations were offered up.

“All clean,” Alex said as she handed Lori back over, swallowed in a white wrap with brightly colored stripes across the ends. “I also diapered her. You’re welcome.”

“Thank you, Alex. This blanket is new,” Lena said.

“It’s a shamma,” Kelly said. “It’s a traditional wrap for Ganna which is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s celebration of Christmas. It isn’t until January 7th, but I thought we could make an exception.”

“It’s beautiful,” Kara said as she laid a kiss on her daughter’s head. “It smells good too, just like you, Kelly.”

Kelly chuckled. “You can thank your dog for that. It looks like Moody was exploring on the dresser in our room and knocked over one of the bottles of my perfume. The spill wasn’t too bad, but Lori got a little extra gift of my scent this year.”

“Which is a great gift if you ask me.” In her gloved hands, Alex held up a bottle of amber oil. “This isn’t as nice as a shamma, but I thought we’d give her her first treatment of the hormone to deal with the detachment from her mom. This way, we don’t need to use the kryptonite needle on her poor little skin.” She unwrapped Lori, gently rubbing the oil over the baby’s torso. “Kara, you get to take care of Lena.”

“My pleasure.”

“They both need to be treated twice a day, and I want urine samples daily so we can adjust their dosage. Let’s make this less rough than it was for Lois.”

Even as Lois winced, Lucy reached out and squeezed her shoulder.

As Alex wrapped her gloves up in a biohazard container, Eliza sat on the side of the bed and handed Kara a box. “I want you girls to have this for Lori.” Inside the box was a small golden mezuzah, a scroll holder, on a gold chain. “Jewish tradition is to give a child a kamea, an amulet for protection. It could be any sort of small ornament used to give protection or ward off danger. Inside this mezuzah is a tiny scroll of Psalm 121, a prayer often recited to support healing. I know she’s healthy. I hope she’ll always be strong and healthy, but when I think of what she means to this world, the way the two of you coming together has erased such a huge rift in this world, I think of the world healing. She’s a symbol of this healing.”

“That’s beautiful. Thank you, Eliza,” Lena said as she took the necklace and hugged Eliza. “I was raised Catholic, but I’m not particularly religious by nature. I know Kara wants to teach Lori about Rao, but we agree that education and choice are important. Would you be willing to educate her in Judaism?”

Eyes wide, Eliza looked at her daughter. “Kara?”

“We talked about it, Eliza. Will you?”

“I’d be honored.”

Meanwhile, off to one side the Lane sisters stood together, Lois watching the tender, wonderful scene in the room quietly… until a thought dawned on her. Her head tilted to one side, even as she silently counted something, her lips mouthing the numbers as she counted. Then, holding up three fingers, her eyes slowly widened. Glancing at the room they were standing in, and by extension the house as a whole, her mouth slowly dropped further and further open, which finally caught the attention of her sister, who watched her curiously.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Not a ghost, Luce,” Lois whispered quietly, in a state of semi-shock, but also awe. “You do know what day it is, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s Christmas. I didn’t have that many beers. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just stay with me here. And you do know what this house was before Clark converted it, right?"

"Yeah, a barn, why?"

Lois gestured over at the newborn, and the three doctors who were explaining their various gifts to Kara and Lena as they presented them. "Work it out, Lucy, work it out."

Lucy considered for a moment, and then as she finally made the same connection that Lois had, her hand flew to her mouth. “Jesus Fucking Christ!”

“Exactly!”

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
